CHRIS DAVIES, Brendan Rodgers’ No.2, reckons the Celtic players will keep their cool in the scorching heat that awaits them in Armenia next month.
The seven-in-a-row title-winners were paired with Alashkert in their opening Champions League qualifier — with a likely rematch with Rosenborg awaiting them at the next stage.
Based in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Alashkert are accustomed to playing in temperatures as high as 35 to 40 degrees in the height of summer.
The first leg, away from home, will take place on July 10 or 11 with the return at Parkhead on July 18.
The Armenians boast only three previous European campaigns, with their most notable result coming when they defeated St Johnstone on away goals on their debut in the 2015-16 Europa League.
Davies has no concerns about the Hoops stars coping with the conditions.
He said: “At times, you can adapt slightly on a tactical side, how you approach certain phases of a game when it’s so hot. But we are training now in warmer weather and we are going to Austria, which will be warmer, so that will help us prepare for that.
“We travel there first and we are at home second, which is positive. The simplicity of it for us is, if we play to our level, play with our normal way and intensity, then we will beat them. But we won’t be underestimating them.
“There will be no complacency there whatsoever because as we have seen before these teams can be tricky to play against.”
Given the close proximity of the second qualifying round, Rodgers and Co will do their homework on Rosenborg as the Norwegian champions look to make short work of Valur Reykjavik.
Last season, a James Forrest strike in Trondheim proved enough to push Celtic past them 1-0 on aggregate at the third qualifying-round stage.
Davies added: “With Rosenborg, the positives I will take from that potential game is that we have beaten them before.
“It was probably the hardest way because we had to play them away second.
“I don’t think their style or players are going to have changed too much, so we know quite a lot about them.”
