Celtic’s Kris Commons admits his side will have to improve if they are to progress further in the Champions League.
The Hoops forward scored the only goal of the match as they began the defence of their Scottish Premier League title with a narrow 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Celtic Park on Saturday.
With rivals Rangers languishing in the third division after their demotion when the Ibrox club couldn’t be saved from liquidation, Celtic had been widely tipped to canter to this season’s league title.
However, the Hoops struggled to break down a solid Aberdeen rearguard who restricted the home side to few opportunities before a howler from keeper Jamie Langfield handed Celtic the lead, allowing a low Commons shot to squirm past him at his near post.
Coach Neil Lennon now takes his side to Finland for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against HJK Helsinki, where they will aim to protect the narrow 2-1 win they gained at Celtic Park last week.
Commons says Celtic will need to step up their game against the Finnish champions as they aim to qualify for the group stages of the competition for the first time since 2008.
“From our own point of view there were a lot of tired legs out there for us against Aberdeen and it took a while for us to get going,” the forward said.
“Maybe some of them were thinking about the game on Wednesday because it is a crucial game for us and maybe some took their eye off the ball a little bit.
“I think in any European game you need to raise the bar but we have a good squad and good players and they want to bring back the big European nights to Celtic Park.
“It is a massive game and that’s what we have been building up to in pre-season, playing against teams like Ajax and Inter to get us ready for European opponents.
“It has all been geared up towards Wednesday and hopefully we will be ready.”
Celtic manager Lennon admitted his side had been suffering a hangover from their midweek European match.
“Going forward there was a lack of freshness about us and I think the exertions of Wednesday night took their toll a little bit,” Lennon said.
“The players were complaining about being a bit stiff at half-time.
“I understand as opening games of the season are quite like that.
“The rest between now and Wednesday is important and we need them as fresh as possible for a very important game.”
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Dundee Utd vs Hibernian - 3-0