‘PRESSURE ALL ON CELTIC,’ STJARNAN

STJARNAN assistant boss Brynjar Gunnarson has insisted all the pressure is on Celtic when they take on his amateurs in the opening Champions League qualifying round.

Ronny Deila’s men are overwhelming favourites to overcome the first hurdle, but Gunnarson believes his team can build on last term’s Euro wins over Motherwell and Lech Poznan to put the heat on the Hoops.He said: “Most of the pressure is on Celtic. Compared to us, they spend lots more money. In a way, we are a semi-amateur club at best.

“It’s the toughest draw for us, but the players are very excited about going back to Glasgow. We had a good few days there when we played Motherwell.

“We were in Europe for the first time last year and had some great results.

“After Motherwell, we defeated Lech Poznan. Those results were unbelievable and we went all the way to face Inter Milan in the play-off.”

Celtic ended up facing the Italian giants later in the Europa League after flopping in the Champions League qualifiers early in Deila’s reign.

Coach John Kennedy said: “There are no excuses this year. It’s up to us to do the business.

 “We want to be in the Champions League. A club of this stature should be there.“Last year’s experience will stand us in good stead. Now we know what’s coming along.”