Gordon Strachan believes Celtic need to dismiss the negativity which surrounded their result against Malmo on Wednesday night.

The Swedes netted a 95th-minute goal to change the complexion of the tie but Strachan believes Celtic need to remain upbeat ahead of the return leg on Tuesday.

The Hoops head to Sweden with a 3-2 advantage and the Scotland manager expects his former charges to prevail and qualify for the group stages of Europe's premier competition.

Ronny Deila leads his side into a tricky away tie leading 3-2, but Strachan is convinced his old club will be good enough to gatecrash the elite again.

He said: “I believe Malmo, on their own ground, will give the ball away too many times.

“They’ve got good players, but not top players. Celtic will get a chance from a breakaway – maybe, at least, two opportunities.

“The only disappointment from the midweek game was the loss of a goal in added-on time.

“If I was the manager, I would say: ‘Listen, we won and that’s what we set out to do.’ And, of course, they’ve done that.

“I would ask: ‘Did we play well? Yes, we did play well. Did we pressurise them? Yes, we pressurised them.’

“The two wide men – James Forrest and Stuart Armstrong – in the first 20 minutes ran the ball at the defenders and made them make mistakes.

“They made them give away corner-kicks and that was encouraging.

“It got to 2-0 and if it had gone to three, the tie was over. And they had a chance to do that. But that’s football and you have to deal with disappointments.

“But, overall, they must be pleased with a lot of the stuff they did.”