IT took a poor performance from Kris Commons, rather than a strong one, to underline just how important he has become for Celtic in the Champions League.

Commons endured a rare off night in Amsterdam earlier this month and, without the creativity and spark the 30-year-old often brings to the side, Celtic barely threatened in a 1-0 tame loss to Ajax. Georgios Samaras is often held up as Neil Lennon's talismanic figure on the European front but Commons has become just as significant in that No.10 playmaker role that he executes so well. Lennon will hope the retired Scotland internationalist is on form once more this evening.

Needing a victory against AC Milan to extend his team's chances of reaching the last 16 of the competition for successive seasons, the Celtic manager spoke yesterday about selecting an attack-minded side in the hope of breaking down the obdurate Italians. Samaras will likely start as a centre forward, with Derk Boerrigter and James Forrest on either flank and Commons providing the link between them.

These sort of nights have come relatively late to Commons. There was little prospect of Champions League football during the early days at Stoke City, nor during his time at Nottingham Forest or Derby County, two clubs whose continental pedigree belongs to a different era. Only after moving to Celtic in January 2011 did the opportunity to rub shoulders with Europe's elite present itself and Commons seems determined to make the most of it.

"He is a very important player for us," said Lennon. "He has a good temperament and I think he enjoys these nights. Kris has waited a long time to be in this position. He is one of the older members of the team and he's done his bit in the lower leagues in England. He's had a superb couple of seasons for us now. He's really matured into a player we feel is vital to the way we want to play. I'm hoping he can find one of those performances for us [tonight].

"It is a pivotal position in the way we shape the team up. Away to Milan, he was very good. He was a big part in us playing so well and he'll be important again."

It is more than just the bargain £300,000 transfer fee that links Commons and Lubomir Moravcik. The Slovakian playmaker was used only sparingly in the Champions League during his four years at Celtic Park but, that aside, Lennon can see many shared traits. "In my time here I think Lubo only started one game, here against Juventus. He was a wonderful player but he was used sparingly in the Champions League. A younger Lubo Moravcik would have played a hell of a lot more. But there are similarities between the two of them.

"Kris has dynamite in both feet and he is a brilliant finisher. If he is on song, he could really dictate the way we play. There are things he does that make you go 'Wow!'. There is no backlift and the ball just flies into the net. Even his first goal against Aberdeen on Saturday was a difficult finish with what is perceived as his weaker foot. He has surprised me. He has actually got better; he's far better than he was at Forest. He has improved his career as he has gone on and I need him to be king if he can against Milan."

If there was disappointment for Lennon in the nature of that performance in Amsterdam, it was off-set by the memory of Celtic's display at San Siro earlier in the campaign, even if the result was not to his liking. "I think the players have played well above expectation level thrown at them the last couple of years," he said. "Sometimes you take it for granted and expect them to play like that every game. But I think the first half in Amsterdam brought a realism again to where we really are. We need to find that high level we have been showing in previous games [tonight] again.

"Milan was unquestionably one of our best away performances - one of the best I have been involved in either player-wise or as a manager. But we ended up losing the game. So while we can take a lot of things from it we still didn't get the result we were looking for. If we can get the same type of performance and a result this time I will be thrilled. It's all about winning. I would like us to set the tempo and take the game to them. Whether we can do that or not will be key to the game."

In a defensive sense, shutting out the maverick that is Mario Balotelli will be pivotal to any Celtic success. The Italian with a propensity for eccentric behaviour can either be a match-winner in attack or self-destruct and Lennon hopes it will be the latter on this occasion. "I think he'll enjoy [playing at Celtic Park] you know," he said. "I've seen him at Old Trafford and [Manchester] City won 6-1 and he scored two and played brilliantly. He also played brilliantly the other night [in Milan's 1-1 draw with Genoa] despite all the negative headlines.

"I know he missed a penalty but his play in general was really good. He's so strong and his first touch was very good, I think he had 13 attempts on goal, didn't score but the fact he was making chances for himself or getting on the end of things, he looked a top, top player. You see the head and body language but I think sometimes he puts that on as a show. I hope that Balotelli [that can self-destruct] turns up tomorrow rather than the other one but you just never know. He is a bit unique."