Murdo MacLeod has told Celtic that they need at least “three or four” additions if they are to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

The Parkhead side lost to Lincoln Red Imps on Tuesday night, with the result against the part-time minnows arguably one of the worst in the history of the club. MacLeod believes that Celtic will recover some of their dignity in the return leg at Celtic Park on Wednesday night but has insisted that the result does not change what Brendan Rodgers should already have known.

“Brendan has come in having managed at a very high level so I am sure that he was quick to see that Celtic needed to sign players,” he said. “There should be no knee-jerk reaction to the result on Tuesday night because it showed up what most people have been able to see over the past few seasons; Celtic need at least three or four good, quality players. Players who can appreciate the demands when you are playing at a high level and trying to get into the UEFA Champions League.

“It is a strange one. It was an awful result but as others have shown before him, you can come out the other end after a terrible start – but he needs to move quickly to get the players in – and other players out – to make the difference. There has been a lot of criticism and a lot of flak which goes with the territory when you are a Celtic manager and you are on the wrong end of a result like that. He has to take it and get on with it.”

Efe Ambrose has shouldered much of the blame for the result with the Nigerian internationalist culpable on the European stage yet again. MacLeod resisted the urge to join the chorus of voices shouting for the defender to have played his last game for the club, but he does expect a settled backline to be the priority now.

“I feel for Ambrose because, believe it or not, I actually think he is a good player,” he said. “But he seems to make mistakes at critical times in critical games and his confidence is shot now. If Celtic have real and genuine ambitions of getting into the group stages of the Champions League then they need to decide on the players they want and go out and get them. They can then look to rely on a settled defence which helps everyone out.”

And MacLeod was also sympathetic to the Celtic support whom he believes will be feeling somewhat shortchanged. “There has been a real feelgood factor about the way Ronny Deila left and the way Brenda Rodgers came in,” he said. “All of a sudden there is one competitive game played and the supporters are looking at it and thinking that it is the same old, same old.

“Getting players in to make the difference is imperative now. They need to do it and they need to do it now.”