You would have to say that the draw yesterday for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League is the one that Celtic would have wanted to avoid. Astana and Rosenborg were the two teams that I felt Celtic had to avoid if they were to harbour a chance of getting through into the play-off round of the tournament.

And, at this stage - and not to sound too negative - I think that Celtic would take a season in the Europa League. Assuming that they see off Lincoln Red Imps on Wednesday evening, as most of us would expect them to do, I think they will struggle against Astana, whom I am sure will prevail in their own second leg tie against Zalgiris Vilnius.

I actually saw a lot of Astana last season when they were in the Champions League and they will be very, very tough opponents for Celtic to beat. They hare battle-hardened after their experience in the competition last term and they also had to get through a qualifying campaign too so they know full well what to expect.

Their own ground is something of a fortress and also quite intimidating, so aside from a lengthy trip to Khazakstan to factor in, there is also the prospect of facing a team who are very comfortable and very experienced at this level.

There will be some people who look at the draw and will say that the Scottish champions should never be concerned by a team from Khazakstan, but in the nicest possible way I think we would have to give a reality check. We have all moved on from where we were even a decade or so ago. Scottish football, as a whole, has stagnated while others have caught us up.

Astana are a team with a little bit of money behind them as well as a very good core of local players. They will not be intimidated by Celtic and, in any case, before Celtic even look to that game they need to concentrate their energies on correcting the mistakes they made in Gibraltar on Tuesday night.

I thought the game and performance was quite surreal and it is actually a very difficult scoreline to overturn. Celtic cannot afford to be too cavalier in the second leg because one more slip could put the tie out of their reach if an away goal is factored into the equation.

I honestly believe that at this stage Celtic would take a place in the Europa League. I always felt this season that making it into the Champions League might be too tough a request. There is a new manager but it is essentially the same cast of players who have failed to qualify for the tournament over the last two years.

Interestingly, it has been a feature of new managers at the club that they toil to make an impression in Europe in their first seasons at the club; Gordon Strachan, Neil Lennon and Ronny Deila all found it difficult to go into these games at this stage of the campaign when they had just taken the reigns and do anything.

It may be that it is something for clubs to think about when the timing is considered for appointing a new manager. Certainly, though, even if Celtic do prevail on Wednesday night they face a difficult tie in the next round.

There is also no guarantee that there will be the safety net of the Europa League since the club would then face a qualifying round just to get in there – and that is full of some very tough teams too.

I do hope that I am wrong, but I just cannot see Champions League football for Celtic this season. At the minute they will be consumed by working their way towards overturning the mess they made in Gibraltar last week but even if they correct that, it has been a very sobering start to life under Brendan Rodgers.

There is much work to be done this week at Celtic Park but following that, I just think the bar is set too high for the quality of players that Celtic have at their disposal just now. I hope I am wrong. I would love to see them do well in Europe – as I would all Scottish teams – but it just seems like a bridge too far this season.