It was not entirely easy on the eye but Celtic’s win over Partick Thistle on Saturday lunchtime may come in time to be framed as the first step out of the storm.

It has been a journey through unchartered terrain for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers these past few weeks with the Irishman not just experiencing back-to-back defeats for the first time in his tenure at the club but also playing a role in the discord that has been laid bare between the board and the dressing room.

Add the best centre-half at the club downing tools and it has been the kind of week that lends itself to self-medicating.

The best treatment for Rodgers was to get a winning team back on the park. They laboured their way to a quarter-final place but essentially the main criteria was simply to get there.

The same message will apply on Thursday evening.

The Europa League may feel like the fizzy wine next to the opulent bubbles of the Champions League but it is still a competition that Celtic will look to make an imprint in. To do so, they need to get themselves there first.

An exit from the Champions League at the qualification stage can often lend itself to a lingering hangover but with the Lithuanians waiting, Celtic can afford no such luxury of linking their wounds.

Rodgers’ side ought to have enough to cope but Leigh Griffiths has maintained that there will be no danger of taking their opponents lightly.

“It will be a difficult game,” said the striker. “I don’t know much about them just now but we will by the time we get to the game. But you don’t go into any form of European football without having something about you.

“We won’t underestimate them. We will give them the respect they deserve but we will go there and try to get the result that we want.

“We will need to do our homework and be professional. If we can set ourselves up with a solid first-leg result then we can then get the job done when we bring them back to Celtic Park.

“We show a bit of humility whenever we play. They might not be a big well known team but I can guarantee that they will be organised, they will be set up to make it difficult for us and we need to be as professional as possible.”

Moussa Dembele got some more game time under his belt at the weekend, while Odsonne Edouard is fighting to be fit for Thursday night’s game.

Dembele netted to punch a hole in any ambitions Thistle had of staging a comeback before Tom Rogic settled the affair with a third. Griffiths had got the ball rolling with his 99th goal for the club and has admitted that his crawl towards the century has added to his pressures as time has gone on.

The Scotland internationalist will become the first player to score 100 goals for the club since John Hartson achieved the same feat in 2005.

And the striker has admitted that in some ways finally getting to the illustrious marker has been something of a pressure on his own. The alacrity with which he hit the 50-goal mark was in contrast to the crawl towards the 100 after campaigns interrupted by injury, loss of form and a fall down the pecking order at the club.

Getting the goal to take him over the line on Thursday night is the ambition as Griffiths looks to get both his and Celtic’s momentum going.

“It has been a long time coming,” said the striker. “When I got the first on Saturday I thought it might be the day that I’d finally go and get it but it wasn’t to be. The most important thing was that we went into the next round of the Cup.

“All the boys have been on at me for ages! I am just one away. But I seem to have been waiting ages to get there. It will come. It will just be nice to get there and make it. But the main thing will always be getting a result. The team winning is the most important thing.”

The biggest concern Celtic have is of shoring up a backline that is bereft of quality and confidence.

There was one moment at Firhill where Jack Hendry dithered in possession and almost lost possession in his own half. It seems harsh to lay the blame for Celtic’s defensive woes at the doors of a player who is relatively new to the club but there remains a need for investment into the backline.

Rodgers opened the door to Boyata’s return this week which would offer some intrigue. With the transfer window still open there is every chance that Boyata will be sold before the end of the month but he needs to play in order that his value doesn’t further diminish.

How those around him may react to his return to the team would be notable.