CELTIC have guaranteed themselves European football for the rest of this year after overcoming Elfsborg but Neil Lennon has conceded his side must continue their continental commitments without Kelvin Wilson.
The English centre-back played a key role as the Scottish champions earned the goalless draw in Sweden that allowed them to advance to the Champions League play-off round but is now almost certain to be back at Nottingham Forest by the time the draw is made tomorrow.
"I would say it was Kelvin's last game for us," Lennon said. "I don't think it [the deal] is far away. I would say he would be away over the next couple of days. If it is then he could go away with his head held high, I thought he was fantastic for us and he will be a huge miss. We chatted to him beforehand, he was in the right frame of mind and didn't want to let the team down and he certainly didn't, I thought he was awesome.
"We are going to work hard to get a few players in because the players are running on empty. These qualifiers are tough and we have two games to go before the group stages."
Those two games will be against either Austria Vienna, Legia Warsaw, NK Maribor, Ludogorets Razgrad or Shakhter Karagandy, with victory earning Celtic a place among the Champions League elite and even defeat bringing the consolation of a Europa League group stage spot.
"It was a huge result," Lennon said. "It is nerve wracking. I was nervous all day and it was a tough night but we showed great character. It was a tough game and you have to credit to Elfsborg, they gave it everything."
Celtic started brighter but were able to score the goal that would have effectively ended the tie. Lennon, though, was content to see his side advance. "I felt we should have had the tie wrapped up after 20 minutes," he added. "We only needed one goal to burst the enthusiasm of Elfsborg. We became a bit scrappy but with a bit more quality we might have picked them off near the end. My back four were wonderful and we restricted Elfsborg to minimal chances. We will wait to see what the draw brings. It is a step in the right direction. It was a tough, tough night."
Jorgen Lennartsson, the coach of Elfsborg, conceded that the best side over the two games went through. He said: "We are disappointed, we were the better team," he said. "We were defensively good and created some chances but didn't have the quality in the final third. We pushed them all the way but of course Celtic were the better side in the first game and if you take the two games together, they deserved to go through."
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