BRENDAN Rodgers last night refused to accept Celtic can’t overhaul a two goal deficit and beat Valencia and urged his players to fight to the death at the Mestalla this evening.

The Ladbrokes Premiership champions were beaten 2-0 by their La Liga rivals in the first leg of their Europa League last 32 tie at Parkhead last week and have an uphill task progressing to the next round.

However, Rodgers is undaunted by the fact the Glasgow club have never won a competitive fixture in Spain and has told his players to give their absolute all in the second leg here this evening and make history.

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“We accept the challenge,” he said. “We know the perception will be that we’re out, but we believe that we can do it, even if it’s a tentative belief, if it’s a yes you have to go for it.

“You have to play with energy and give everything and fight to the very end. If we can get the first goal then who knows?”

Asked if the chance to become the first Celtic side to win in Spain would be, Rodgers said “It would, aye. It’s a great challenge for us.

“I saw enough in the game last week. We started the game well, we lost our way a wee bit after 25 minutes and we gave them confidence in the game and the first goal is obviously critical.

“But I think we come into the game, like we’ve done over the past two and a half years, whenever we’ve had disappointing results or performances, or both, and respond. We did that at the weekend in a tough league game and we carry the confidence now to go again in this.

“We recognise we didn’t play well enough. We made mistakes. We know you have to really, really concentrate. Ultimately, it’s about concentration at this level.

“They are up there with the third, fourth best team in Spain. If you are that in one of the top European leagues, you’re alright. If you’re bringing someone off the bench who cost €40 million you are a really, really good side. If you’re going and can draw games against Barcelona it tells you the level they’re at.”

Rodgers believes taking the lead will be vital for Celtic in the Mestalla – but has stressed to his charges not to go gung-ho against Valencia.

“For us the first goal will be important,” he said. “But if we work our way into the game and make it difficult, and play with a speed and confidence with the ball, and score then it’s a different mentality within the game.

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“It doesn’t even have to be an early goal. The important thing is we’re stable and don’t make mistakes and concentrate. If you look at the two goals last week, we were almost going in at half-time at 0-0.

“But we make a mistake and go 1-0 down and then give away another poor goal in the second half. So we don’t need to score an early goal – but if we can get the first goal then that will be important.”

Asked what he would say to his players before they take to the field, Rodgers said: “I’ll ask them if we have this shot at getting through, do they believe they can win? If they do, no matter how tentative it is, if it’s a yes, then let’s give it everything. Let’s fight, let’s tackle, let’s play. If we are going to go out, let’s give it our best shot. That’s what the players do.”

Meanwhile, Scott Brown, the Celtic captain and midfielder, has denied the Scottish champions have no chance of going through, but urged his team mates to remain patient.

“European football is huge,” he said. “Years ago I signed because I wanted to play Champions League and I wanted to play in the Europe League, whether it is against Valencia or anyone else.

“It is a great opportunity for everyone, but it is going to be hard with us being 2-0 down from the first leg. We need the first goal to try and put them under pressure and see if we can play.

“We’ll need to be more patient with the ball, we gave it away too much last week, so we need to be more controlled in possession and press them a bit better than we did as well.

“We usually turn these scorelines over when the second leg is at home, but this is different.

“The pitch is a bowling green, the stadium looks good and the fans will be with us, so we need to make sure we go out and give a good performance.”

Brown added: “Last week we started really well for the first 20 or 25 minutes so I think we have to try and build on that. We need to try and keep a clean sheet, score the first goal and take it from there.

“It’s always a hard place to come and Valencia are a quality team. We will have to be on top of our game, but we learned a lot last week about how they play and how we can match up against them.

“Our second half performance last week wasn’t up to scratch. But we can go again after recharging the batteries. We need to start pressing high up the park and putting teams under pressure again.

“It’s hard because we are 2-0 down and you want to stay in European football for as long as possible.

“It’s not been a great start from the first leg, but it’s now about how we bounce back. We have been here in the past. It is a totally different challenge coming away from home in the second leg but we believe have the players and quality to do it. But it obviously needs to be a quality performance.

“We know how good Valencia are on the ball. They kept it well in the first leg and were very patient.

“They created a couple of chances, not too many, but as soon as they got them, they took them. We need to do the same and make sure we take a chance if we get one.”