If tonight’s game against Zenit St Petersburg is something new for some of those in the Celtic dressing room, it is something of a novel experience for Brendan Rodgers too.

There are few games as Celtic manager that give rise to the experience of life as the underdog after all.

Not that Rodgers has entirely accepted that the knockout stages of the Europa League is Celtic having got so far as they can. A realist rather than defeatist, Rodgers will urge his side to make life as difficult as possible for Zenit, with the defensive aspect something for the team to pay significant heed to.

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For a team who shipped 18 goals in the Champions League this season – a fair percentage given cheaply – Zenit’s stat of having scored the most goals in the group stages of the Europa League this term may send a shiver down the spine.

Roberto Mancini’s squad comfortably topped a group that held Real Sociedad and Rosenberg and will fancy themselves to toppled Celtic on their way to the last 16 of the tournament.

“I never say that lightly [that we are underdogs],” said Rodgers. “I always think we are Celtic and....…but I have always been realistic.“I think I have always been a realist and when you look at their investment and level of players they have they will expect to go through. We have to find a way and we will see if we can get a result.

“I think you get to the last 32 and they are always going to be tough games. There are teams that are winning their group stages and qualification for the Europa League.

“There are teams coming out of Champions League and they are always going to be tough games.”

Once upon a time the first leg at Celtic Park would have been viewed as an opportunity for the Parkhead side to fashion a positive result to take into an away leg.

The problem of late, however, has been that Celtic’s home form has morphed from being regarded as an asset to an achilles heel; the Hoops have gone more than three years without winning at home now in both the Champions League and the Europa League. This term there was some ignominious history in the tournament when they became the first British team to have lost all three home games in the elite competition.

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Still, Rodgers believes that it is only by repeated exposure to teams of Zenit’s calibre – and there is an argument to suggest that the Russians are Champions League quality – will raise the bar at Celtic.

“You have to take your medicine in in some of the games,” said Rodgers. “The challenge presented to us is tough. Having been through a couple of qualification phases with them, and Champions League experiences, I also have to identify the downside.

“And the downside is that I never, ever want to expose the players. We want to try to help them improve their level. That exposure to the level will help them improve and develop, especially with young players.

“But the atmosphere and everything around these games inspires the players and we have seen that in a number of games.

“We have seen it in games where we haven’t given the crowd what they wanted and we have been disappointed in our performance. It is something that is not intentional. The players go in with every attitude to be aggressive, to have energy and probably sometimes what has deflated the crowd a wee bit is when we have made mistakes and given away cheap goals. The idea is to hopefully not do that.”

Zenit are expected to be without defender Branislav Ivanovic. The 33-year-old former Chelsea defender is injured and should miss both legs of the tie, but the Russians have other players who are capable of inflicting damage on Celtic.

“He would be a big loss,” admitted Rodgers. “He is a brilliant player. He is playing in the position now, he orginally came into Chelsea as a centre-half, but ended up playing a lot of his career at right-back. He is a brilliant player, a great professional. He is a very strong, has great experience and if he doesn’t play it would be a big miss for them.”

Celtic’s own talisman in these games has been Moussa Dembele, particularly in the French striker’s inaugural season at the club. The striker has been waylaid with injury issues which has made for an unsettled campaign this year but Rodgers has warned that any kind of positive result has to come on the back of a united front.

“It can’t all solely be on him,” said Rodgers. “For us to do anything at this level it has to be as a team. He has shown enough of his gifts to us but I think he has been unfortunate this season with injury and then through December and January.

“He is beyond all that now and he is back on track and working hard. His focus and concentration is good and when he is at that level then he is a real handful and he is one of the top young strikers about. Hopefully he can stay clear of injury and get the opportunity to do that.

“It is confidence, isn’t it? He has just been really unfortunate at times. He has picked up injuries at the wrong times but last year he had a fantastic season. He got injured in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup which opened the door up for Leigh and then Leigh finished the season really well.

“He came back into pre-season and it was a bit hit and miss in terms of injury again. It has been difficult for him to get into his flow in the season but he looks up to speed now and much more happier with the contribution that he is making.”