MIKAEL LUSTIG has warned Hapoel Be’er Sheva that Celtic will be ruthless in Israel on Tuesday.
Brendan Rodgers’ men will take a 5-2 advantage into the second leg of their £20million-plus Champions League play-off showdown.
But the Swedish international defender insists the Hoops have no intention of simply attempting to protect their three-goal lead.
Lustig said defiantly: “We are going to go there and try to win the match.
“We will see what the game plan is going to be, but we are at our best when we are on the front foot and we hate to get beat.
“Leigh Griffiths’ first goal was unbelievable, but you need to give credit to the whole team. I thought James Forrest was amazing and put in a perfect cross. Leigh is a striker and we all know he can score goals.
“There are a lot of guys with goals in them now – it is not just Griff. There were three other guys, Tom Rogic, Moussa Dembele and Scott Brown, who scored goals in midweek.
“So, it is good he is he is getting some help after hitting 40 goals on his own last season.
“We are a different team now, but, hopefully, Griff can have a repeat of the previous campaign.
“So, we are going there to win. We won’t be satisfied until we are back in the Champions League.”
Lustig was taken off after straining his ankle, but he has commended the attitude within the Hoops squad as they rallied after losing two quick second-half goals.
He also paid tribute to the methods of Brendan Rodgers who has taken the champions to within 90 minutes of gatecrashing the European elite after two successive failures with Ronny Deila in charge.
He added: “We played really good football and then we had a crazy five minutes when they suddenly scored two goals.
“The mentality and the character we have in the team now – you can see it. It was really important that we got the other two goals.
“I just felt that everyone was spot on in the first-half and then there was a little bit extra. Hopefully, we can get through it now.”
