DEDRYCK BOYATA has insisted that Celtic are not out of the Europa League just yet.

The Hoops have fallen to the bottom of the group after back-to-back defeats to Molde but although they have taken just two points from four games, they can still get into the latter stages of the tournament if they can win their final two matches.

Ajax are next up at Celtic Park on Thursday night and Boyata has insisted that there is no fear in the ranks at Parkhead ahead of the meeting with Frank de Boer’s side.

“We are looking forward to it,” said the Celtic defender. “Why not? It is a big game, it is exciting to play against big teams and we feel confident that we can go out and do ourselves justice.

“We do not think that we deserve to be at the bottom of the table. We are a better team than that but the challenge for us is to to prove it. We are happy that we still have two games to do that.

“If we can beat Ajax then who knows what will happen in the last game.

“It is in our hands and that is important. A lot of people have been quick to say that we are out of it but it is not over yet. We still have a chance.”

Individual errors have proved particularly costly for Celtic in the competition, with leads against Ajax and against Fenerbahce cheaply thrown away.

Boyata, though, believes that Celtic are capable of learning from those games and he has maintained that the squad remains optimistic about their chances.

Celtic, though, have won just two of their last 12 Europa League games which would suggest that victories in their forthcoming two games is a considerable ask.

“We are confident that we can do it,” said the defender. “We are always working hard to try and get better. We want to be better individually and as a team.

“We have seen the mistakes that we have made. We have watched them and gone over them and now we have to learn from them.

“But I think we played well in Amsterdam when we played against Ajax for the first game. We also played well in parts of other games but we know that we have to make that last for the full 90 minutes.

“The game is one that we are excited about. It is nice to play against teams from elsewhere in Europe and Ajax are a side who have always had a big reputation.

“Hopefully we can go out and show that we are a better team than what we have shown. We feel good that we can do that.”