Strachan: long-term progress name of the game

CELTIC’S chances of Champions League success will be seriously damaged if they do not beat Benfica tonight but boss Gordon Strachan is also looking at his side’s long-term progress.

Strachan’s young squad are bottom of Group D but are only three points off leaders AC Milan, whom they face in the San Siro in their final group game.

With Celtic taking only one point from their previous 14 group games on the road, anything less than maximum points against the Portuguese side and Shakhtar Donetsk in Glasgow would leave them with an uphill struggle.

However, Strachan steered away from talk of must-win games.

“You never know what is going to get you through but this is all part of the building, to get this squad as much experience as they can,” he said.

“It may not help them this season, it might help them next season, the season after and hopefully the season after that when this group can all stay together and learn. We want to win, that’s the priority, there is no doubt about that, but if we can take things from the game, then great.”

With Milan recently added to the scalps of Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus at Parkhead, and with the memory of a 3-0 home win over Benfica last season, Celtic have a right to be confident in front of their own fans.

And Strachan feels their form – despite recent losses against Rangers, Hearts and Benfica in Lisbon – offers more scope for optimism. They retained their three point lead in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on Saturday with a 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock.

The Hoops boss said: “I think the air of confidence comes from the way we are feeling about ourselves – we are playing good football. It’s good on the eye, it’s winning football most of the time.

“The only time really this year we have disappointed ourselves and our fans was against Rangers.

“Apart from that I have been really happy with their attitude and we had some right good football on Saturday after a turbulent couple of days previous, and they handled it really well.”

Celtic are likely to be without Shunsuke Nakamura after Strachan admitted the Japan midfielder’s chances of recovering from a knee injury were “not great”.

However, with the likes of Aiden McGeady on form, Strachan is confident Celtic will not lack a creative spark.

“It’s always nice to have a full squad with great players but I have, at this moment, a lot of players playing well,” he said.

“It would be different if Naka was playing inspirational football and everyone else was dipping below their form.” Strachan added: “I already know what the team is going to be.”