SCOTT BROWN, the Celtic captain, believes the provocative celebrations of the Legia Warsaw players after their Champions League victory over the Scottish champions last week will serve as additional motivation for his team-mates when the sides meet again tomorrow night.
The Poles' 4-1 win at home in the first leg of the third qualifying round tie has left Celtic up against it in their bid to reach the group stages of the competition for a third successive season. Ronny Deila's side need to secure at least a 3-0 victory if they are to progress to the play-off round and will need to do so at Murrayfield Stadium, with Celtic Park still out of commission following its use for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
The manner of the celebrations of the Warsaw players at full-time in the first leg has angered many in the Celtic dressing room. Brown, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury and will not feature in the return leg, revealed his team-mates had not forgotten those taunts and hoped it would inspire them to achieve the result they need.
The Celtic captain recalled similar scenes last year following Shakhter Karagandy's 2-0 victory in the first leg of the sides' play-off tie, only for Celtic to win the return 3-0 to progress to the group phase. "The lads will remember every single thing [from the first leg in Poland]," he said. "They [Warsaw] got a little bit over-confident at the end and celebrated in a few of the lads' faces. The lads will be thinking about that.
"[Overcoming Karagandy] was just a great night. We managed to turn it around and it's pretty much the same squad as we've got just now."
An aggregate loss would see Celtic, who will also be without the suspended Efe Ambrose, drop into the qualifying round of the Europa League but Brown is still optimistic they can reach the Champions League. "We have to put them under pressure from the word go. We do believe," he added.
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