Kare Ingebrigsten, the Rosenborg head coach, has confessed he doesn’t trust the intelligence given to him on Celtic by former Parkhead manager Ronny Deila.

The Norwegian champions will attempt to bring their Scottish counterparts’ journey towards Champions League progression to a halt when they meet in Glasgow this evening, but Ingebrigsten admitted he was reluctant to take on board the advice of the man who guided Celtic to success during his time here.

Over a two-year tenure in Scotland, Deila led Celtic to two top-flight titles before eventually being replaced by Brendan Rodgers last summer.

Speaking to Herald Sport last week, the Norwegian, who is now in charge of Valerenga in his homeland, said he would be content to speak to both parties ahead of tonight’s Champions League third round qualifier first leg. It now appears he was true to his word, even if the man asking the questions was reluctant to accept it.

“I spoke to Ronny Deila but I can’t tell you what he said,” said Ingebrigsten. “He didn’t give me much.

“I think he is more of a fan of Celtic than of Rosenborg so I don’t trust what he said to me.

“But it was more about what we can expect at Celtic Park. He told me about these kind of things. The rest of it, he just told me to do my job.”

While not the great side that was a regular fixture in the Champions League during the turn of the century, the team that trained at Celtic Park last night is still a bit of an awkward customer.

Even though they are top of the Norwegian league after 17 games played, Ingebrigsten’s men struggled to get by Irish side Dundalk in the previous round, eventually needing extra-time last week to secure their safe passage to Parkhead.

Speaking at a press conference last night, their manager was comfortable with the performance put in over both legs against what he said was a solid Dundalk team. However, he was blunt about what will happen if his players repeat the lapse that struck them in Ireland during the first leg.

“I thought Dundalk was a good team. They played in Europe last season and did well,” he said. “For 30 minutes we were really bad in the first game but we controlled the rest of the tie. But we will have to be better against Celtic. If we play 20 or 30 minutes like we played against Dundalk it could be all over.

“Celtic Park is a special place. I think everyone is looking forward to playing here.

“Celtic are similar to us. They are used to winning. They have not lost in Scotland for a year. They played in the Champions League last year and they have improved. They played well in the Champions League, drawing twice against Manchester City. So we are playing a Champions League level team and it’s up to us to show how good we are.

“It’s good for us that the season hasn’t started in Scotland yet. We have played 17 games and hopefully we are at our best tomorrow. Can that be a crucial factor? History shows for Rosenborg that it is an advantage to be half way through the season. All the opponents we meet - except Dundalk - tend to struggle, because it’s early in the season for them. So hopefully Celtic are not at their sharpest.”

Rosenborg captain Mike Jensen reckons the key to his team prevailing in Glasgow will be to show courage in the opening stages at a super-charged Parkhead.

He said: “It’s a big challenge for us. They are the maybe the best team we have played for a long time.

“We need to be strong in defence and attack, we will have chances and I hope we have the courage to take them. We will have a go. It’s not in our style to sit back.

“Courage is the key word for us. They will come out with a lot of energy and we need to handle that.”