Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has no doubt been called many things on his travels around Scotland’s grounds since arriving north of the border, but it is doubtful that even the famed creativity of the Scottish football supporter has stretched to labelling him a lumberjack or a peasant.

And yet, those are the barbs that have been aimed at his team by former Anderlecht striker Paul van Himst, as the sides gear up for Tuesday’s Champions League shootout for a place in the Europa League in the new year.

The 71-year-old Belgian hit out at his former club for losing so emphatically to the Scots after they went down by three goals to nil in the reverse fixture at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, saying; “We should never have allowed ourselves to lose to a team of peasants like Celtic.”

Celtic boss Rodgers, to his credit, tried to decipher the real meaning behind the comments, and he thinks that the words come from a place of bitterness at being outplayed by a team with lesser resources than the Belgian champions enjoy.

He prefers that his side do their talking on the field. If anyone wants to call Rodgers a lumberjack, then he’s ok.

“I haven’t seen that, but that’s interesting,” said Rodgers, behind a wry smile.

“Listen, it happens. Things are always said, and I suppose with their budget and with everything where they are at – the club and the history they have – they would have been expected to have beaten us. Especially at home.

“They have maybe looked at our budget and where we’re at, and we’ve probably shocked them really that we’d won and played well.

“If you look at it from their perspective and sit in their shoes, Belgium are a nation that has really taken off and have this golden generation of players. Anderlecht have a big history, and they look at us here playing in what they would deem to be a lesser level and a lesser league.

“We have nowhere near the finances that they have, and yet, they get outplayed and they lost.

“I wouldn’t have thought they will take us for granted again this time.

“It’s always good to have that humility within your squad and within your team, and certainly from our perspective we will respect them, but look to play our own game.

“There’s lots of things said, but our idea is to have belief in how we work, and do our talking on the field.”

The gap between the resources of the continent’s elite and the relative paupers, or peasants if you will, like Celtic and other champions from smaller nations was laid bare by Paris Saint Germain’s 7-1 demolition of Rodgers’ men in the last round of Champions League fixtures.

The Celtic manager concedes that taking on the likes of Anderlecht are a more reliable indicator of where his team are currently, and he would see it as another milestone for them should they beat the Belgians to third place by avoiding anything worse than a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday evening.

But while Anderlecht are probably more representative of the level of side they will face in the Europa League, Rodgers has sounded a warning to any supporters expecting a charge to the final of a competition that was played out last year between Manchester United and Ajax.

“We never like to dampen anyone’s hopes but you have got to be realistic,” he said.

“[Getting to the final will be] hugely difficult. If you think of a decade ago how the gap has increased. When Celtic were in Seville they had players that who come right out of some the top six teams in the Premier league at the time.

“They had guys like Paul Lambert, who had won the Champions League with Dortmund. You had a level of player who in that time could really compete at that level. I am not saying that we couldn’t, we would be competitive, but I think we also have to be realistic.

“For us, a real progression would be the qualification and knowing we can come out of the group we are in and have European football afterwards. That is a huge jump for us. You accept what it is in the last 32 and take it from there.

“We set out last year when we first came in, the club and the country hadn’t been in the Champions League for I think three seasons. We wanted to make a mark and qualify and we have done that over the last couple of seasons. Each season we have made progress and as much as we know it is a steep learning curve for us we still want to make progress. To come out of this group with European Football, being the fourth seeds let’s not forget, and the team in Pot 3 has significantly more income than us, that would surely signify progress.

“Certainly for us it would, because it is where we can improve and develop our game – on that stage.”