Ronny Deila is keen to provide striker John Guidetti with a European platform

However, even though Astra will be desperate to avoid Group D's wooden spoon, Celtic will sense unparalleled opportunities. Victory against the Romanians - in the low-key environs of the Marin Anastasovici stadium - coupled with a win for Red Bull Salzburg, against Dinamo Zagreb, would clinch qualification with two games to spare, one of which could well be a home showdown with Salzburg to decide whether Celtic can also become the first Scottish team to top a group in European club competition.

But Ronny Deila is less concerned about history and more interested in where his team are heading, even if it is quite a stretch to infer that topping the group would automatically make the Parkhead side one of the favourites to return to Warsaw - where their hopes of qualifying for this season's Champions League suffered irreparable damage - in May to claim the trophy and the attendant Champions League spot.

Judging by attendances, there has only been a moderate level of interest from Celtic fans in the Europa League, but for Deila the European arena offers the only true opportunity to see where his side stand and how far they still have to travel.

"When you play in Europe you get references that you don't get sitting at home, thinking you are so fantastically good," the Norwegian said. "You come back and think, 'oh shit, I have something to work on here'. It's very easy when you are sitting in your own country and are doing well there and you think you are great. But when you come out, you realise that you are not great and you have to work. That's why in Norway in pre-season I only played European teams. We would get killed in every match and I would say, 'OK, you think you are good, that's the level'. You come back into the league and it's an easier level, easier to play. You have a higher tempo in you. That's why the European cups are so important.

"You have to see, that in Scotland we are good but out here we have to be honest that we still have a long way to go to be talking about the highest level."

Deila's appetite for European adventure is whetted by the fact that he made only a dozen continental appearances as a player, his high water mark coming when he helped take the scalps of Austria Vienna and Monaco in the 2005/06 group stages of the old Uefa Cup with Viking Stavanger. The coach of that side was Roy Hodgson, a man whom Deila will endeavour to get in touch with, probably around the time of this month's Scotland v England match at Celtic Park.

"He said in the newspaper that he will go up and see Celtic during the season," said Deila. "So I hope I can talk with him."

Another Norwegian reference point for Celtic to emulate is that of Rosenborg, who famously became perennial Champions League entrants around the turn of the millennium, but however exalted the level in the wider Europa League is these days, the lure of a Champions League spot for the winner is both a blessing and a curse. Juventus, Liverpool and Manchester City are just three of Europe's most illustrious names currently in line to parachute down from this year's elite club compet-ition, with the Anfield side perhaps likeliest to take renewed interest in back-door entry to the Champions League.

Rather than articulate an ambition to win the tournament, lest it is exposed to ridicule, Deila merely preaches incremental improvements. Suddenly, most departments of his team have a settled, solid look to them and by the time February comes around, and principal striker John Guidetti becomes eligible for European competition, who knows where Celtic will be.

"OK, so we have to be the first," said Deila, when told about Scottish football's previous lack of Romanian success. "If we can get a win there it puts us in a very, very good situation. But again it is tough. When you play away you have to be well organised, tough and strong, and be effective.

'You have to take one day at a time, one match at a time. Still the rhythm could be better but we have players that can win a game, a very strong defence and a goalkeeper who is fantastic, a foundation we can build on. If we can reach the next stage it will be huge for us. In football, everything is possible. When you go into cup play everything can happen. You never know what kind of team we can have in February. Hopefully, we can still continue to get better."

Hanging around in this competition long enough to unleash Guidetti, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester City, in the knock-out stages certainly appeals to the 22-year-old from Stockholm himself. It emerged yesterday that the striker - who has been as big a hit in the dressing room as he has been on the pitch - has ordered his fellow Scandinavian Stefan Johansen to ensure that is the case.

"I think John does want to stay," said Johansen. "Why not? He is scoring goals and having a great time on and off the pitch. For a young player that is the best feeling. You see him coming to training each day with smiles. He is on-loan but he is always thinking about the team. That is what a professional does and I hope ultimately we will get him here. I know how football is but I hope he is going to stay. In fact, I am going to tell him that he has to stay."