Celtic are cautiously optimistic that Olivier Ntcham will be fit to feature against Greek side AEK Athens on Wednesday night. The Parkhead side are confident that the midfielder has not sustained serious injury after limping out of Saturday's game against Livingston with an ankle injury.

There were fears that the Frenchman could be forced into the treatment room but the expectation is that Ntcham, whose influence has grown steadily at the club over the last 12 months, should be fine to take his place against AEK Athens on Wednesday night.

The French under-21 internationalist - whom Celtic do not wish to sell but who was inked with a move to Italian side Torino who this weekend  -is believed to be in line to feature against the Greek side in Wednesday's crucial qualifier at Celtic Park. 

Meanwhile, Celtic’s Australian midfielder Tom Rogic believes that the Parkhead side have sufficient resources to get through their third round clash against AEK Athens.

Moussa Dembele remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and Dedryck Boyata has returned to full training after an extended break following the World Cup and could feature at some stage of the tie against the Greek side.

In any case, Rogic is confident that Celtic are experienced enough now to cope without being at full strength for these testing qualification games.

“It is all about the team progressing and keeping the momentum going,” said the Australian, who netted Celtic’s first league goal of the campaign on Saturday afternoon.

“Olivier is an important player for us. Hopefully he’ll make it but we have a great squad and there have been times, over the last few seasons, in particular where we have found a way to get through even when some of our important players have been out.

“We all hope he’s fine but if not then there is a full squad here and we all be giving it 100% to try and get a good result.”

With the home tie coming first, Celtic will look to build a decent lead to take over to Athens for the return leg.

Rogic, though, has maintained that the Parkhead side need to keep their focus throughout.

“Every game is important, home and away,” he said. “We have started off strong at home and that has got us through and it would be good to go and try and do that again this year.

“I don’t know if it will help that we have already started our competitive season. We can only focus on ourselves and if we can get a good result to take over there then that would be ideal. But we know how hard it is going to be.

“These are really difficult games and we need to concentrate fully and try and play as well as we can.

“I feel good. The extra break helped me and I feel ready now to come in and help the team. Hopefully I can play a part against AEK because we all know that making it into the group stages of the Champions League is a big ambition that we have every year.”

Celtic have been successful in their last two attempts at negotiating the qualifiers and getting into the group stages. The experience of coping with games that are arguably the most tense of the season is something that Rogic will call on as the Parkhead side look to get over the next hurdle.

“I think it does help that we have been over the course before,” he said. “They can be a bit nervy but for us as players it is just about concentrating on our job.

“The Champions League is where we all want to play but there is still a long road ahead of us of we are to make it back into the group stages again.”