Stuart Armstrong may just be the most improved player in Scotland at the moment, and is fast becoming the poster-boy symbolising Celtic's improvement as a whole since the arrival of Brendan Rodgers.

After losing to Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their first Champions League qualifier back in July, there wouldn’t have been many who would have given them hope of achieving a draw at the Etihad a few months on.

While they achieved that on Tuesday night against an admittedly weakened Manchester City side, Celtic’s confident ball retention was notable and worthy of admiration.

If they can continue to build upon the foundations put down during their developmental journey in this season’s Champions League campaign, then Armstrong is confident they can do even better next time around.

“It was another good display at this level,” Armstrong said. “We’ve come a long way since we began away at the Nou Camp and have improved in each game we’ve played.

“Like the game at home which finished 3-3, we feel we could have taken all three points down there.

“We had our chances to do that and that in itself is encouraging. We’d maybe two or three opportunities and I thought we dominated parts of the game against a very good City side. So we can be happy with that. But of course we want to keep on winning and improving. Hopefully we’ll take all three points next time.

“It makes us hungry to get back to this stage next season. This is where we want to be – challenging against the best.

“Once you have made it into the Champions League you want to perform well. This has given us great encouragement and motivation to get back to this stage next year and do better.

“It’s fine margins at this level. When you look at the three games we drew, we had chances to win them. That’s the difference at this level.

“You know chances like that are going to be few and far between. On each occasion we could have squeezed and extra goal. It might have been a different story.

“You never want to be just participants at this level. We’ve definitely shown that in the fixtures. That will give us great motivation for next year.”

Whether Celtic’s ambition will stretch into a tilt at making the last 16 next season or on simply prolonging their European adventure until after the Christmas decorations are down remains to be seen.

Armstrong is more immediately concerned though with what they can take from this season’s experience into the current challenges they face, such as tonight’s clash with Partick Thistle.

“We’re focused on the now rather than looking too far into the future,” he said. “But what we can take from Tuesday was we were composed, confident and assured at this level. Which is important for a team that’s striving to get there and hopes to then perform well.

“We’re learning the gaffer in terms of how he wants to play tactically. It allows us to dominate the ball more against quality opposition. You need to move them around.

“When we don’t have the ball we need to press them in certain situations which allows us to get it back.

“We’re definitely improving on that side of the game. That can only help us going forward.

“I’m definitely learning a lot playing under the gaffer. I’m in a more central role which is much more enjoyable for me. Hopefully that’s showing in my performances. If I can keep that up then I’ll be very happy.”