It may mean dinner at 2am and clocks being turned in hotel rooms, but Celtic will stay on BST in Kazakhstan in order to give the club every possible chance of progression into the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Brendan Rodgers has a reputation for a meticulous approach to organisation and it is the small details that he hopes will give Celtic the impetus as they look to secure an invite to Europe's premier tournament for the second successive season.

The Parkhead club drew Astana for the conclusive play-off game in the Champions League qualifiers, with Celtic hosting the first leg before the return journey to Kazakhstan, who are five hours ahead of Britain.

The team hotel will be instructed to turn all bedroom and lobby clocks to reflect the time in Glasgow in order to avoid any jet-lag among the Celtic players following the 8-hour flight.

It was a measure that worked well last season, although it meant that the team sat down for their evening meal in the wee small hours of the morning.

“We are in a much better place with the team in terms of how we play and control that dynamic away from home," said Rodgers. “They are a good side, they’ve got the same manager and a lot of the same players.

“It’s proven to be a difficult place. We prepared well and we’ll do the same again. We stayed on British time, that meant eating at some ridiculous hour but it worked well for us.

“The people who were outside of the football last year said it was a good idea because we didn’t have to adapt our body clocks. If you are away for a short block of time I think it makes sense.

“We got the hotels to change the clocks, the hotel are taking your money and at the end of the day they are providing a service, it doesn’t take much to change the clocks in all the rooms.

“You work within that same time zone and it stops them from missing meetings. It stops the excuses anyway. Sometimes it’s the little things that matters on occasions like this.”

And Rodgers is unfazed by the prospect of another 8-hour trek to Astana again. Last term Celtic beat Astana 3-2 on aggregate to progress to the play-off stage of the tournament but it was a victory that required a last-minute penalty from Moussa Dembele.

Since then there has been an increasing maturation of Celtic under Rodgers and although the precarious nature of this game will still lend an edge to proceedings, there is an assurance about Celtic.

"I think there’s a calmness which comes through maturity," said the Celtic manager. "Last year we were going into these games with an idea that the mentality of the team was strong. We’d built that up. But how we wanted to play wasn’t anywhere near where it’s at now. I look at the team now and I see the football idea of how we want to work is there.

"So that’s a big difference as well. Once you have all of that and your preparation as well, it gives you the confidence even if it doesn’t guarantee you anything."

Meanwhile, Celtic will begin their defence of the Championship this afternoon as they host Hearts at lunchtime at Celtic Park.

And while there has been a perennial suggestion that Celtic would benefit from a "strong Rangers", Rodgers has maintained that he needs no external factors to provide his motivation.

"Others need it, but we don’t," he said. "Our measure is that we want to be the best we can be. We know what it takes to compete in European football. That’s our measure.

“Some people will say we need a strong Rangers, strong Aberdeen, strong Hibs - but that’s no good if you’re not strong. We can’t weigh it. Our standard we set ourselves, no-one else helps us set it. That was my approach last year when I came in and it was exactly the same throughout the season."

Asked if a more competitive league would prepare Celtic for the rigours of European football, Rodgers was equally dismissive.

"Why then is a team from the [English] Premier League, the most competitive league in the world, not winning the Champions League every year?

“I’m not crying for it. It’s great if it’s there. But it can’t define us. It’s great for the game if you have that, one team a point ahead and helicopter Sunday and all that stuff. But it’s not going to define how I work every day.

“I always try to work at a world class level and that’s the demand for the players. With all due respect, I don’t need to know what Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts or St Johnstone are doing to motivate me.

“I’m not going to have a lazy day because we are winning by 20 points.”

Meanwhile, there was bad news for Erik Sviatchenko yesterday when a scan revealed that he has damaged his medial ligament.

The Danish defender will join Dedryck Boyata and Moussa Dembele in the treatment room for at least six weeks.

“He’ll be out for about six weeks," said Rodgers. "It was when he straightened his leg, the inside of his medial ligament in the inside of his knee was stretched. It could have been worse. He’ll be out about six weeks."