THE theme from the Hovis advert would have been a fitting musical backdrop for John Collins yesterday as he spoke of the days when he was a lad and the difficulties faced by his generation of players when travelling to what was once called the Eastern Bloc.

Food tended to be inedible and certainly not what was required for professional athletes before a match. The opposition usually a complete mystery and as for the hotels and pain of actually getting there, well the kids of today just don’t know they are born.

Late next Monday morning, Collins, Celtic’s first-team coach, and the rest of the travelling party will step on a charter plane which will take them right to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Everything will be done for the squad. They may have to carry their own hand luggage but that will be about it.

By then, Celtic will have already played Qarabag FK and even 48 hours before this Wednesday’s first-leg tie in Glasgow, the squad will have watched hours of footage. They will be informed of who is dangerous and what any weakness may be.

It’s a far cry from 20 years ago and, because of this, Collins – while accepting his team have a match on their hands – cannot fall back on the excuses his Celtic team of old could.

“If we had the choice we would prefer a shorter journey for the away leg,” said Collins. “But that’s the reality and we need to get on with it. There are no excuses. We will leave a day early and get settled in to get used to the place.

“With modern video analysis tools you can quickly find out everything about your opponents. You can get all of their games live and see every goal they have scored and conceded. We can do the research. We’ll be briefing the players so they’ll know what they will be up against.

“When I was a player we never had this level of analysis so it was a bit of a step into the unknown at times. I’ve been to places like Georgia, Belarus, Estonia and Latvia with clubs and with Scotland. Georgia was a six hour journey. You have to overcome these things.

“Sometimes it’s the heat that is the problem at this time of year but it shouldn’t be too bad in Baku. We’re looking at about 25 degrees so it won’t be stifling. It’s a nice stadium and pitch, and the hotel is good so there will be a nice bed at night.

“We’ll look at the food situation and maybe take our own chef. It will be a comfortable plane. The club is very professional and there is nothing that won’t be taken care of.”

This next week or so for Celtic is going to define the whole season for the club. So no pressure then.

"The big games used to come at the end of the season when you have momentum and are flying,” said Collins. “It’s back to front now. That’s the way it is and the way it is going to be in the Champions League.

“We know what’s in front of us. I am sure there will be a little bit of nerves when you go up that tunnel and onto the pitch. They will quickly disappear when the match kicks off. I am sure it will be exciting. We all know how important the game is.”