STANIMIR Stoilov, the Astana coach, today claimed that Celtic are favourites to win their Champions League qualifier here in Kazakhstan tomorrow night and revealed his team will approach the game defensively.

Astana are undefeated at home in Europe in the last two seasons and last term they held Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray to draws at the Astana Arena after securing a place in the Champions League group stages for the first time in their history.

However, Stoilov, who will be without his captain and attacking midfielder Tanat Nusserbayev, insisted that Brendan Rodgers’s side are more likely to win the third qualifying round games and progress to the play-off stage.

Read more: Celtic facing defensive crisis as Erik Sviatchenko misses out on Astana clash

“Tomorrow is going to be a very hard game for us and a very important game,” he said. “We are going to play a defensive game. We are preparing very well, but we have problems. Our captain had surgery and he will not play for one month. We will try to do our best.The Herald: Brendan Rodgers wants to sign some new players before Celtic face Astana next week

“I know about Celtic. I have enough information. I know the players, I know the coach, I know the history of this club. I know enough about the Scottish champions. Tomorrow we will see what happens.

“To be honest, I know that Celtic play very well and is a very strong team. I know that Celtic is favourites, but we will try as much as we can and we will see what the result is tomorrow.

“They are favourites because they have big history at the club. They become champions of Scotland many times and they have very many trophies.”

Stoilov added: “The main thing for us is discipline. We have to be disciplined tomorrow. We have to play with brave hearts and strong minds. The last thing is the key to success.

“I can’t say anything about Brendan Rodgers. He has worked with the best teams in the world and he has built a smart team and a complete team.”

Rodgers will field a new-look defence in the first leg of the third qualifying round tomorrow due to Erik Sviatchenko, who hasn't travelled with Celtic to Asia after suffering an injury, being unavailable.

The Irishman may have to play Mikael Lustig, the Swedish right back, in the middle of his defence once again and might recall Efe Ambrose, who was at fault for the goal in the humiliating 1-0 defeat to Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the second qualifying round.The Herald: Davie Hay believes that Efe Ambrose has had enough chances for Celtic and he shouldn't play again for the Hoops

Eoghan O’Connnell, the 20-year-old who scored his first goal for Celtic in the friendly against Leicester City at Parkhead on Saturday, is another option, but the youngster has no experience of European football.

But Stoilov, the former Bulgarian manager who has been in charge of Astana for the last two years, believes the Glasgow club have a strong enough squad to cope with their injuries and dismissed the Red Imps loss as a freak result.

“I saw many friendly games of Celtic and they have very good defenders,” he said. “I think that one of the defenders is injured, but it’s not a very big loss, it’s not a big problem, because their squad is full of good players.

“I think that tomorrow’s match is very important for Celtic. There other matches against Leicester and Barcelona are just friendlies.

"There was a big difference in class between Celtic and Lincoln Red Imps and, in the first leg, they just underestimated their opponents."

Stoilov revealed that his players, whose season got underway back in March, were tired after they had edged out Zalgiris Vilnius of Lithuania in the last round with a goal in the second minute of injury-time.

He believes the home supporters in the Astana Arena, a futuristic 30,000-capacity stadium with a retractable roof, will be important if his team is to get a result tomorrow evening.

“We feel pressure,” he said. “I can’t say anything about Celtic. I know that tomorrow we are going to be supported by our fans. That is an important thing.

“We took a rest for one week. We were playing for more than six months. I can only say about our physical condition after the game. Our main advantage is our fans. I don’t think our players are going to think about how tired they are.”

Celtic were beaten 2-0 on the last occasion they travelled to Kazakhstan – for the first leg of the Champions League play-off against Shakhter Karagandy three years ago.

Stoilov has several players who were involved that evening and is hopeful that will help Astana to get a result that keeps alive their hopes of progressing to the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition for the second season running.

He said: “Shakhter from Karagandy played against them three years ago and three or four of our players were involved against Celtic at that time.

"But the bottom line is that, over the two games, Shakhter did not qualify. It’s not important who will win tomorrow, it is important who will pass into the next stage.”