STJARNAN head coach Runar Pall Sigmundsson is confident his Icelandic champions can mastermind a shock victory over Celtic after witnessing Dukla Prague score five goals against Ronny Deila's side.
The 41-year-old watched the Czechs record a comfortable 5-3 win in a friendly match at St Mirren Park on Saturday and took heart from the clear defensive failings within the Ladbrokes Premiership champions.
Stjarnan face Celtic in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, with the first leg taking place at Parkhead on July 15, and Sigurdsson has pointed to a lack of cohesion between midfield and defence as something that can be studied further ahead of his return trip to Glasgow.
Virgil van Dijk is suspended from the Icelandic club's visit after being sent off against Inter Milan in last season's Europa League and that led Deila to start with a centre-back pairing of Charlie Mulgrew and Dedryck Boyata against Dukla.
The unfamiliar pairing conceded two goals in the first half before van Dijk and Efe Ambrose replaced them at the interval.
"Dukla were a very good team and took advantage of a lot of space Celtic left between their defence and midfield," said Sigmundsson.
"They had some problems with that and it is something that we can look at.
"Celtic have just started their pre-season preparation and looked a little bit rusty, but it was interesting for us to see them in this game.
"It is the first time I've had the chance to see them live and it was very useful.
"Everybody will have to play their best-ever matches if we are to beat Celtic, but we are very confident.
"We can take heart from our performances knocking out Motherwell and Lech Poznan in last season's Europa League but this is our first attempt at the Champions League. It is a different level.
"Of course it would be massive to beat Celtic. It is a great opportunity for Stjarnan to play against Celtic and, if we have a great result in Glasgow, we can do something big."
Stjarnan beat Motherwell 5-4 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of last season's Europa League, but Sigmundsson concedes that facing Celtic represents a far more daunting challenge.
Stjarnan are also enduring a very mixed season as defending champions, lying sixth of 12 teams in the Urvalsdeild with just four wins from 10 fixtures, and are sitting eight points behind leaders FH Hafnarfjordur.
"Celtic are at a different level from Motherwell," he conceded. "They are a fantastic team and we know it will be very difficult for us to play against them."
Sigmundsson also believes Celtic will be able to shake off the rustiness evident against Dukla despite having only one more friendly match left - a meeting with Real Sociedad at St Mirren Park on Friday evening - before the competitive action begins.
"I think they will," he said. "Celtic have fantastic players in their team and we are only a small, semi-professional club, almost amateurs.
"They also have a great coach and I'm sure that having only one more game will not be a problem for them.
"Of course, they will be favourites, but we are confident."
Sigmundsson would have noted a lack of forward threat in Celtic's tame defeat by the Czech side and, to address that failing, Deila is expected to continue his pursuit of Dundee United's Nadir Ciftci.
Last night, the prospect of the controversial front-man joining former Tannadice team-mates Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong in the east end of Glasgow inched closer.
The player's agent, former Celtic striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, revealed that his client would be happy to have contract talks with the Parkhead outfit, as soon as a deal is struck between the clubs.
Ciftci has refused to join Wigan Athletic despite United having accepted an offer of more than £1million from them while turning down two proposals from Parkhead.
Van Hooijdonk admitted last week that the 23-year-old Turk was "flattered" by interest from the Glasgow club. He has also pointed out that United currently have no option other than to sell to them should they wish to receive a fee for the striker as he enters the final year of his contract.
"There are only two offers on the table at the moment from two clubs," said van Hooijdonk.
"He told Wigan he does not want to go there. If United accept an offer from Celtic, we could talk.
"We don't want to put the player in a situation that he doesn't want to be in. He is not desperate to go.
"Nadir is away with United to Holland next week. He is very comfortable in this situation. He is not panicking because of the situation.
"When the offer is right for United and for the player, he will listen to the offer. If it's not, he won't be forced to move."
Meanwhile, Celtic manager Deila has cooled mounting speculation in Spain that he is on the verge of agreeing a loan deal with Real Madrid for 16-year-old Norway internationalist Martin Odegaard.
Deila brought Odegaard through the ranks at Stromsgodset, who banked an initial £3million when he moved to the Bernabeu in January.
He would almost certainly attempt to secure his services on a short-term basis should Real Madrid's new head coach, Rafael Benitez, sanction a loan move, but there are several interested parties in the Spain's Primera Division.
"I haven't done anything about that," Deila stated.
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