STICK or twist? That’s the psychological dilemma facing Celtic ahead of the second leg of their Europa League tie against Copenhagen according to the Danes’ manager Ståle Solbakken.

Solbakken says that the tie is still in the balance ahead of tomorrow night’s game at Celtic Park, despite the away goal that the Scottish champions brought home courtesy of Odsonne Edouard's strike in the 1-1 draw last Thursday.

Certainly, he is sure that there is belief coursing through the Copenhagen dressing room that they can come to Glasgow and secure passage to the last 16 of the tournament, just as he believes that there may be an element of doubt creeping into the Celtic dressing room over how to approach the fixture.

“It’s not over until it’s over,” Solbakken said. “It looks over, but it’s not over. We don’t see it as a bonus, we see it as a possibility.

“The odds have crept a little bit more to Celtic’s side after their away goal. That’s natural, but we know we have scored at away grounds this season. Not many but we have scored.

“It’s a bit of dilemma to Celtic - what do they do if it’s quite even? If they score first, then we score the next so there’s also a little bit of psychology in it.”

In their last 12 away games in European competition, Copenhagen have never lost more than one goal, so Solbakken’s confidence isn’t entirely misplaced. Solbakken is wary of Celtic having their dander up because of their rampant domestic form, while their own form has stuttered, failing to win any of their three games since returning from the Danish winter break.

“We are satisfied with what we have done in Europe this season, coming through qualification group stages and these [group] games,” he said.

“It’s always important for us to win games. When a Scottish team meets a Danish team there will be times where the Scots have a more settled team and the Danish team doesn’t and the opposite.

“I think now they really believe and trust and have won 10 in a row in the league. They are more on a high than we are, but we managed to come back over there and there is nobody in that dressing room who doesn’t believe it can’t happen.

“It has been a difficult season in many aspects - injuries in all positions and never really having a stable team and playing every three days but we’ve still made it a fight.”

That fight has been a hallmark of Copenhagen’s away performances in Europe over the last couple of seasons, something that Neil Lennon and his men will be aware of. When asked how they have managed to consistently compete against more feted names on the continent, Solbakken joked: “The players have changed, and the coach is the same!”

“We have brought a culture into the club in terms of we demand we don’t go for nice performances without results. People used to think it was a nice try but you lost and lost. We are doing it for one reason and that’s to win, no other reason.

“We have a lot of wisdom inside the club culture-wise in terms of the leaders and all the things that go around, the things you need to take extra care of in games like this.

“You try to bring the learning things from one squad to another. When success repeats itself it’s easier to break the deadlock to make it one more time.”