Celtic improving but far from finished article

Brendan Rodgers may have guided Celtic into the Champions League group stages for the first time in three years but his side are still very much a work in progress. Glamour ties against five-time European champions Barcelona, English Premier League giants Manchester City and German side Borussia Monchengladbach await them in Group B. However, the Scottish champions made hard work of their qualification. Holding a 5-2 advantage over Hapoel Be'er Sheva from the first leg, Celtic survived a second leg onslaught from the Israeli side to progress 5-4 on aggregate following a 2-0 defeat on the night. The match in Israel shared many characteristics of previous poor performances away from home in Europe but former Liverpool manager Rodgers was accentuating the positives following the match in Israel. "It was probably the longest 90 minutes I’ve faced as a coach. With the past experience the players have had, you sometimes never know how it can map out in the game," Rodgers said. "I have to congratulate my players because all the work we have done in pre-season has been based around that mentality and the quality of our game. "We know we can’t always play well. A lot of the games, we have played well. But tonight was always going to be about resilience and persistence. "Maybe the focus of the criticism when I came in was we couldn’t tough it out but we showed after two games and under a huge amount of pressure that this team could tough it out." Rodgers and the Celtic supporters are right to feel upbeat. Under former manager Ronny Deila the Scottish champions fell at the final hurdle to Maribor and Malmo, defeats which cost them around £25million ($32.9m, 29.2m euros) in prize money. As well as boosting the club's coffers, the return of Champions League matches against some of the biggest names in Europe will alleviate the flatness of recent seasons when Deila's failures saw attendances at Parkhead plummet. However, while Rodgers has restored a swagger to Celtic's attack he will be concerned by his side's weakness in defence. The Hoops let a commanding three goal advantage slip to 3-2 in the home leg against Hapoel while St Johnstone grabbed two back after trailing 3-0 at half-time. The humiliation of a 1-0 defeat to Gibraltar minnows Lincoln Red Imps in his first competitive match in charge will also weigh heavy in Rodgers' mind. It is not only in Europe that Celtic will face a challenge this season. Old Firm rivals Rangers have returned to the top flight and Aberdeen, who Celtic face in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday and who have been their nearest challengers in recent seasons, will also pose a threat. Following Tuesday's match, Rodgers made a point of praising his chief executive, Peter Lawwell, and the major shareholder, Dermot Desmond, for backing him in the transfer market. Rodgers will be hoping they will back him again before the transfer window closes next week so that he can build a squad capable of competing at home and in Europe. Fixtures (1400GMT unless otherwise stated) Friday Kilmarnock v Rangers (1845) Saturday Celtic v Aberdeen, Hamilton v Ross County, Inverness CT v St Johnstone, Motherwell v Dundee, Partick Thistle v Hearts