BY agreeing to extend his contract at Celtic by a further two years, Mikael Lustig delivered a message that went far beyond his own personal circumstances. The Swede has been a reliable, steady presence on the right side of Celtic’s defence since moving from Rosenborg in January 2012, a player team-mates and managers, including current incumbent Brendan Rodgers, know they can hang their hat on. With his family settled in Scotland it was not a surprise that Lustig wanted to stay at Celtic, and, similarly, that the club were keen to hold on to him.

More enlightening, however, were the 30-year-old’s reasons for not choosing to seek greater financial rewards elsewhere, having admitted to checking out his alternative options in the unlikely event the club hadn’t put a new contract on the table for him to sign.

Lustig witnesses the progress being made under Rodgers and feels it will only continue in such a positive manner in the years ahead. He sees a squad capable of making the latter stages of the Champions League once again, and believes the financial might of the club means there will be little need to cash in on their star assets as has often happened in the past.

“My main goal was always to stay anyway but you like to have that feeling when you’re going to training every day that the club is getting better and better,” he said. “That’s how it feels now.

“For the first time in a couple of years it feels like we are going for something big. It feels like we are going to get better every year. We have the feeling that we don’t need to sell the best players. We also have a feeling that we want to be in the Champions League, but not just be happy to be in it.

“We want to develop there so that in a few years we can become a good Champions League team that can get past the group stages. It’s a long road but it feels like we’ve made a good start. I knew Celtic was all about winning before I came here. And so far, so good! But we just take it a season at a time and hopefully we can continue to meet our goals.”

Like many foreigners who arrive in Scottish football, Lustig perhaps viewed Celtic as a stepping stone to the promise land of the English Premier League. Having been at the club for five years, however, his viewpoint has altered.

“I can understand why some people maybe said that [about it being a stepping stone to England],” he said. “Before you come here and you don’t know what Celtic is all about then it’s easy to say that you want to just stay for one or two seasons then go to the Premier League. In my opinion Celtic is a massive club and it’s really hard to get that somewhere else. The money is obviously better down south but it’s hard to find that many clubs in England that are bigger than Celtic.”

He could yet finish his career in Scotland, although he does not envisage the end zooming into focus for some time yet. “Of course, but I am still just 30, so hopefully I have a few years left in me. You never how your body is going to react but the last two seasons have been really good so hopefully I am going to have the opportunity to sign another contract as well after this one.”

The glamour of the Champions League knock-out stages will seem some distance away this afternoon when Lustig and Celtic get back into competitive action following the winter break when they take on Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup at neutral Airdrie.

Rovers manager Darren Young will have the experienced figure of Billy Stark next to him in the dug-out and Rodgers felt being able to call upon that level of insight is hugely important for any young coach.

“I remember when I first started at Watford I had Frank Lampard Snr with me and he was brilliant,” he recalled. “Just that bit of experience can be invaluable. I have a story about the late Graham Taylor who I took into Watford when I went there. Early on we had lost a game and I got a phone call as I drove away in my car.

“Graham said: 'listen son, don’t worry, this is what happens. My only advice to you is, and have this for the rest of your career, don’t pick your next team while driving in the car'. What was I doing right then? I was picking my next team! And I’ve never done it since.

“My point is that having that experience beside you, especially early on in your career is invaluable. Billy has been a fantastic player and a great assistant manager for people and I’m sure he is doing a great job with Darren.”

Rodgers gave the hint that he would not veer too drastically from what would be his recognised starting line-up.

“Every coach and manager, whether it's in the Premier League or up here, you always pick a team to win. What I've learned from experience is that if you really want to win the competition, then if you make too many changes, it unbalances you. I think I've done that in my time here. I’ve changed the team, but I've always picked a team to win.”