TWO of our clubs are back in European competition this week and it would be great if we could still have at least two involved by the time it gets to the group stages.

Every year we look to Celtic to fly the flag by qualifying for the Champions League but too often recently they have been the only ones to make an impact.

As a nation we are falling down the rankings and the only way to stop that decline will be to start winning more matches. We need to show more consistency in qualifying and put a string of results together, not just one or two. There have been plenty of hard luck stories with teams doing well but then just falling short.

Now we need them just to get through as many rounds as they can, no matter what it takes.

I know it gets harder when teams like Aberdeen and St Johnstone need to win four ties just to get to the group phase of the Europa League but if one of them or Inverness, who come in a round later, could still be involved in the competition come Christmas then what a lift it would give both them and the whole country.

I would expect Celtic to get past Stjarnan fairly comfortably. I watched the Icelandic side play Motherwell last year in the Europa League and Motherwell should have beaten them.

After that it is down to the luck of the draw but as the seeded side you would fancy Celtic to make up for last year by reaching the Champions League group phase.

The rest don't have it easy. Inverness have a really tough tie against Astra of Romania, one of the teams in Celtic's Europa League group last year. I remember speaking to John Collins about them at the time and he thought they were a really good team. So that will be hard for John Hughes and his players but following the season they've had, I'm sure they will give it a real go.

St Johnstone and Aberdeen both have difficult ties and a lot of travelling, with one in Armenia and the other in Macedonia. Both have had decent results in recent seasons, with Aberdeen beating Groningen last year before coming unstuck against Real Sociedad. Saints have beaten Rosenborg and Luzern in the last two seasons before being knocked out a round later.

I know it is not easy playing competitive matches in the first week in July. Some players might feel it's better than pre-season games as you're going in there full throttle right away. But for a lot of managers it isn't the best way to start a season. To go from a month or so off straight into a competitive tie that you're expected to win is difficult. Managers want to do pre-season properly, to gradually build things up so you reach a peak late July or early August when the season usually begins. But now they're straight into it right away.

I think you would have to have been a player to know just how much your body needs to recover in the close season. In my era, when the season finished, you sometimes got as much as seven weeks off and you would gradually do a bit more each week before you went back. It was more about injury prevention because if you do nothing, then come back full tilt on day one it was inevitable you would pull a hamstring or a calf muscle. But you would try to have two or three weeks of complete rest.

In the modern era, the window for taking a complete break is getting shorter and shorter. So players have to be handled with care as it's almost impossible to go from nothing straight into a competitive game without picking up some injury.

These early trips to places like Armenia, where it's expensive to get to and roasting hot for football when you get there, isn't ideal. But clubs still want success in Europe and the opportunity to take part. Let's hope a few of them hang around a bit longer this time. We're certainly capable of it.

IT was good to see Scott Allan say he wants to stay at Hibs for another season. If he learned one thing from his move to West Brom it was that you can do things for money but it's not always a good career move.

I think he needs another year at Hibs; it's a good standard and they play nice football, and then he'll probably get his big move. I've watched him a lot and he's a terrific talent, and he's benefited a lot from playing regular, competitive football. I expect him to kick on again this year and show just how good he can be.