Celtic may be the favourites to progress from their Champions League qualifier against Astana today but the Scottish champions don’t need to look far back in their history to find reasons to be wary.
 Leigh Griffiths’ late equaliser in Kazakhstan last week secured a 1-1 first-leg draw and gave Brendan Rodgers’ side a vital away goal that puts the Hoops in the driving seat to progress to the final play-off round.
 It was an impressive result in tough conditions for Celtic against a side that played in the group stages of last year’s competition and were unbeaten at home against Benfica, Galatasaray and eventual finalists Atletico Madrid.
 Celtic, who are aiming to return to the group stages for the first time since 2013/14, will take encouragement from the fact Astana have failed to win away from home in the Champions League while managing just two goals in their seven ties.
 Despite this, first team coach John Kennedy is all too aware last week’s result is far from a guarantee of reaching the next stage. Two years ago, Kennedy was a matter of weeks into his new role under the tutelage of Norwegian manager Ronny Deila and assistant John Collins when Celtic drew 1-1 away to Slovenian side Maribor in the play-off round.
 It left Celtic within touching distance of the lucrative group stages, but their opponents turned the tie on its head at Celtic Park when they scored a late winner to condemn the Scottish champions to the Europa League.
 There has been a change in manager since then with former Liverpool boss Rodgers now the man tasked with leading Celtic to the promised land of the group stages.
 Kennedy has urged his side to learn from that bitter experience against Maribor and believes they can extend their run of four straight victories at home in qualification.
 “At the time it was tough mentally to take but the memories will give the players greater awareness going into this match,” Kennedy said. “That’s a useful experience for us to learn from. There are a lot of players from that tie still in the squad who were a part of that, too.
 “But we always knew this was going to be a tough tie and the first leg showed that. The conditions were tough but coming home with a 1-1 in the bag is as positive as we could have asked for.
 “We wanted to make sure we got a positive result and getting the away goal was massive for us. The way the tie is balanced is great for us as preparation-wise we go in with a positive mindset. We’re not going in to this just trying to hang on. Our mindset is to go and win the game and put the tie to bed.”
Rodgers, meanwhile, insisted he won’t be taking a risk if he gives Ivorian defender Kolo Toure his debut in the crucial clash against Astana. Rodgers worked with Toure at Liverpool and was reunited with the 35-year-old last week when the Scottish champions signed him on a free transfer.
 The former Arsenal and Manchester City defender sat out the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round tie against Astana and also missed Saturday’s International Champions Cup defeat to Barcelona as he worked on his fitness.
 But, plagued by injuries to three defenders, Rodgers was forced to give a European debut to 20-year-old Eoghan O’Connell alongside the much-criticised Efe Ambrose in the Astana Arena.
 He still has limited options in central defence for the crunch game at Parkhead, which is delicately poised after the first leg ended 1-1, and hinted he could turn to Toure despite his lack of recent action.
 “Kolo will be in the squad. He has trained well since he has come in,” Rodgers said. “We left him behind at the weekend to continue with that and I am confident that he can play a part in the game (tomorrow).
 “If I feel he can start in the game and he is ready, I will have no problem playing him. I wouldn’t think it would be gamble, we are just assessing fitness at the moment.
 “He is super-experienced. Kolo has had a great impact already in the short period of time he has had here but you also have to try to apply a little bit of common sense to it.
 “He has only been in the building a short period of time (and) it is a huge game for us. But I have no doubt that his experience somewhere in the game can be required, if I felt that he wasn’t ready to start.”