JOHN HARTSON has sympathy for Celtic striker Nadir Ciftci after he again fired a blank in green and white.

The Turkish star was given the nod by boss Ronny Deila for the Champions League clash against Qarabag, but endured a frustrating time at the head of the attack and is still waiting for his first goal for the club.

Ciftci was replaced by Leigh Griffiths with 23 minutes to go as the Hoops held firm to book their place in the play-off round draw.

And former Parkhead striker Hartson admits the need for Celtic to defend their 1-0 first-leg lead denied Ciftci a chance to show what he could do at the other end of the park.

He said: “I think I went five or six games [without scoring], but a couple of them were off the bench. It is a difficult role to play.

“If you have got support and you are on top in the game, it is a good position to be in.

“I did it for ten years with the national side, I had [Ryan] Giggs on one side and [Craig] Bellamy on the other, so I was getting great support and good deliveries into the box.

“It was more of a defensive display from Celtic, in the first half in particular, when they had to be cautious and disciplined and they couldn’t allow players to go out of position.

“He was isolated at times, but I thought his effort and his commitment was there for everyone to see.”

Having now progressed through their first two rounds of qualifiers, Celtic are just 180 minutes away from a place in the Champions League group stages once again.

Deila and his players will discover their final opponents tomorrow and Hartson hopes the Hoops get a slice of luck when the ties are decided.

He said: “Hopefully the draw will be kind to them. They are all decent sides now for this two-legged game that is coming up.

“Hopefully they won’t have too difficult a tie and they have enough to get through.”