STEFAN JOHANSEN believes that Gary Mackay-Steven could be the man to unlock the Qarabag defence on Wednesday night.

The Parkhead side travel to Azerbaijan this afternoon in an attempt to consolidate their 1-0 win from the opening leg of their Uefa Champions League third round qualifier against Qarabag.

An away goal would facilitate progression into the play-off stage of the qualifiers and Johansen is expecting a positive line-up – although he has acknowledged that defensively Celtic need to be astute given how finely poised the tie is.

“Gary has been great since coming into the team,” said Johansen. “He is quick on the ball, he gives us pace up front and gives us width. He is great on a one v one and it is great to have players who can do something that little bit different.

“If he keeps playing the way he has been playing then he will be a very important player for us this season.

“He can score goals, he can create chances and against Qarabag, we know that if we take just one chance we could probably get ourselves through and into the next round.

“Having players like Gary can give us that something extra up front but he is also very good at helping out defensively which is what we all have to be thinking of.”

Johansen has yet to experience Uefa Champions League football in his career and getting to the hallowed environment of the group stages would be the realisation of a long-held ambition.

“First of all I want to do it for Celtic because it is a huge thing,” he said. “You feel the whole city is just so alive. It means so much to everyone – for the fans and the players.

“have had some Europa League last year and they were superb but we want to experience those kind of nights again.

“I have played the Europa League, I have won in Norway and I have won in Scotland and I have played with the national team but the Champions League is a place where I have never been and I would love to get to the place where you meet the best players in the world.

“That is the way you develop as a player. It is where you get to see the top level and it would mean a lot to all of us to get in there.

“I have always watched a lot of football on TV so I have seen Celtic play in the Champions League.”

Qarabag, however, remain a sizeable obstacle for Celtic to overcome this week.

Johansen, though, is optimistic that their need to score on Wednesday night will make for a game that is more suited to Celtic.

“We had the right impression of them,” he said. “We knew they would be good at keeping the ball but they didn’t create too many chances. They would have been satisfied with a 0-0 draw. We got that important goal at the end and I think it will be a much more open game over there.

“They came here to defend but they have to come out a bit more to get at us and hopefully that can suit us.

“But it is going to be tough. The job is far from done. In the end we have a good result to go for and we believe that we can go there and win the game.”

Meanwhile, Southampton, are believed to have tabled a formal offer worth £8m for the Virgil van Dijk.

Celtic are unwilling to allow the Dutch defender to go but the player has made public his desire to play in the Premiership, with Everton and Arsenal also linked with a move for the player.

Roberto Martinez is believed to have targeted the defender as a replacement for John Stones who has been the subject of various bids from Chelsea.

Ronny Deila, though, is adamant the 24-year-old will remain at the club until Celtic have negotiated their Euro qualifiers.

Celtic are believed to be holding out for £10m for Van Dijk but one potential stumbling block could be the fact that the defender has played in the Champions League qualifiers, meaning he would be cup-tied for Southampton who are currently 3-0 up against Vitesse in their Europa League qualifier.