VIRGIL VAN DIJK is convinced it's who Celtic do have - not who is missing - that will decide tonight's Champions League clash with Ajax.

The Dutch defender does not attempt to underplay the impact of losing skipper Scott Brown to suspension and Kris Commons, Adam Matthews and Derk Boerrigter to injury.

However, the presence of pacey and in-form James Forrest - fully recovered from a meningitis scare - and Euro goal hero Georgios Samaras gives van Dijk confidence that the absence of so many important Bhoys can be overcome.

From his time in Holland - he was in the Groningen side which lost 2-0 to Ajax on the final day of last season - van Dijk knows the importance of keeping Frank de Boer's team on the back foot and not allowing them to settle into their passing, possession game.

He believes the sight of Forrest and Sami running at them with the ball will be a concern to the Dutch, who are just one point head of Celtic in the group as they go into this double-header.

Van Dijk said: "James is a player who worries opponents. He is a Scottish international and is already famous in Europe.

"James is a very good player, very fast and he has a good cross as well. Along with Georgios Samaras running at the defence from the other wing, I believe this can unsettle Ajax.

"But we have a lot of quality players in the team. So while these two are very important, we also have others who can help us get the win."

Van Dijk's main priority tonight will be to keep Ajax out and help the Hoops record their first clean sheet since the group stage kicked off.

Late goals in Milan undid Neil Lennon's side on matchday one, and their 10 men only just failed to keep Barcelona out on matchday two.

Van Dijk said: "A clean sheet is the important thing in European games. If we can do that, even if we are not scoring, we can get a point from the game."

However, the target is to get the victory which would push them ahead of Ajax in the group and, hopefully, onto the heels of AC Milan, who face Barca in the San Siro tonight.

Despite still having no points, no one at Celtic is resigned to fighting only for a parachute jump down to the Europa League after Christmas.

Van Dijk said: "We definitely believe we are fighting for more than third place. There are still a lot of chances to take in this group."

Celtic could come out of this double-header in second spot, if they can take at least four points from tonight's game and their visit to Amsterdam in a fortnight and Milan lose both their matches against Barcelona.

But for now van Dijk is only interested in what happens this evening at Parkhead. He said: "It's true that three points from tonight's game would make a big difference to our chances.

"Both these games, Ajax at Celtic Park and then in Amsterdam, are very important for us.

"But, of course, we want to win at home."