They will raise a flag at Celtic Park tonight, but for all concerned at the club there is a belief that it will not be of the white variety.

Celtic’s European campaign got off to an inauspicious start in Gibraltar last Tuesday night, but the opportunity to atone presents itself this evening as the second leg of the tie gets underway.

In all likelihood, Celtic should expect to shrug off last week’s embarrassment with a comprehensive result and performance; no dodgy pitch, no suffocating heat, no real excuses.

The result against Lincoln Red Imps put a dent in the feel-good factor that had surrounded the club since Brendan Rodgers’ arrival, although it also served, perhaps, as a reminder that with the same squad comes the same foibles.

However, while there seemed to be something of a deja-vu factor for the Hoops fans last week, Rodgers has remained calmly steadfast in his defence of the current squad, whom he expects to see off the part-timers this evening.

“I am working with a group of players who are so humble and have no ego,” said the Celtic manager. “This is my first experience of up here in terms of coming in for pre-season and you have your most important games right at the front.

“I was disappointed with the result, of course. Everyone was. Results will always spark a reaction. For me, it has always been about getting the job done. Was I embarrassed by the players? – no I wasn’t.

“I have come into here and found they are a group of real good guys. They are doing their best, they work hard, they need help and support, and that’s what we are trying to give them.

“As a manager I’ve never been one to get too carried away with a win. I never get too disillusioned when I lose. When I have players such as this group, and they do need some help, but at this period of the season when they are fighting for fitness, and the games are frontloaded, they are giving me everything.

“Apart from last week’s result, they could not have done any more since I walked through the door.”

While Rodgers has applauded the work-rate and attitude of the squad he has inherited from Ronny Deila, he would like to see them bare their teeth a bit when they get on the park.

“You can be as nice as you want off the field and we have enough players who can be aggressive when we go onto it and can play,” he said. “I talk about ego in the nicest terms.

“I want my teams to go into the pitch and play with arrogance, with dominance, have hunger.

“We have that, but the group are giving everything at this moment and I think they will show that tonight.”

Just one competitive game into his tenure as Celtic manager, Rodgers will require time – and resources – to sift through the numbers and add the quality which the team are crying out for if they are to realise their European ambitions.

His problem, as has been a difficult faced by a number of his predecessors, is the timing of the European qualifiers, games which entirely underpin the season.

However, he remains confident in his ability to mould a team capable of taking Celtic to the top level.

“I would expect that, I want the hallmark of this team to be the starts they make, the intensity of their play, how they press and squeeze,” he said.

“Hopefully, that’ll be the hallmark of the team, but we just need to prove to ourselves that we are improving and developing our game, while knowing it’s a game to qualify.

“We’ll look to get the result and the job completed.

“The job is perspective. I know headlines need to be made and written, but I can’t afford to worry about that.”

Rodgers has acknowledged that it is difficult to appreciate the magnitude of these games for Scottish clubs, until there is direct involvement in them.

“Do people understand how tough these qualifying games are? No, clearly not,” he said.

“I always felt when you were looking at it from down south, you were just starting your pre-season and, yet, everything seemed to ride at this time for Scottish teams.

“You’d be sat worrying about your second training session for the afternoon and teams were playing qualifiers.

“But that’s the way it is. It is difficult, but we accept it as part of life here. We want to be there, so we have to maximise what we can do to get in there.”

“It’s a big concern but that’s what we have.”