Celtic raised a flag on Saturday but they are out to plant one of a different kind this week.

With domestic business attended to, Celtic’s attention now lies on the broader spectrum of the Champions League as AEK Athens head for Glasgow. Ensuring the passports are required for entry into Europe’s premier tournament is the main ambition at this stage of the season and in that respect there was much to mull over from Saturday’s display against Livingston.

At the halfway stage of what is a mini-tournament of its own now, Celtic’s ambitions of securing a place in the group stages of the lucrative group stages of the Champions League will come into focus on Wednesday evening and given the reception they will expect to receive in Athens, the received wisdom is that they will want a decent lead and a clean sheet to take with them on the travels next week.

Which is easy to say but not quite so straightforward to execute.

If the three points taken from the drubbing handed out to Livingston at the weekend offered up anything new in the way of knowledge ahead of Wednesday night it is that their chances of progression with Tom Rogic in their ranks is easier than without.

The Australian missed the early stages of the season as he enjoyed a break after his time in Russia at the World Cup but his performance on Saturday underlined the elegance and craft he brings to Celtic.

Aside from the rarest of things as he headed the opening goal – “the first with my head” – there was the constant pirouetting in the middle of the park. It is not a mere circus act from the nimble feet of the Aussie given his propensity to combine it with an end product.

Rogic netted the first but had a significant hand in the second. Collecting James Forrest’s header and taking from his own half all the way to the edge of the Livingston box where he played a slide pass out to the left for Olivier Ntcham for the Frenchman to square across goal for Odsonne Edouard to convert.

“Tom was excellent,” said Rodgers after the game “He’s been building up over the last two to three weeks or so and he just finds space naturally and he created and scored a goal.

"I thought we looked very dangerous in that final third of the pitch. Some of our play and the speed of our play was exceptional. On the back of a Champions League game, the intensity was very good. He was one of a number of very good players.”

Further goals arrived in the second period with Callum McGregor winning a penalty for Ntcham to convert. The sloppy goal at the death conceded, however, underlined that Celtic’s often devastating form from middle to front can be undermined by a moment of negligence at the back.

"For large parts we were outstanding," said Rodgers. "It's always difficult against an honest team like Livingston who are sat in.

"I thought we scored three very good goals and the only disappointment was right at the end. We need to be a bit more streetwise in that moment."

And while there was something of a mismatch between the league champions and the newly promoted Livingston on Saturday, the expectation is that it will be a far tougher proposition on Wednesday night.

The backline has been Celtic’s achilles heel when it comes to European football but the return of Mikael Lustig at the weekend who got a full 90 minutes under his belt ought to allow for some changes to the back four ahead of the game against AEK.

Lustig will be expected to retain his right-back berth while Kieran Tierney, who played half an hour of the 3-1 win over Livingston, will go to the opposite flank. Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer appear likely to take the central positions defensively which should lend Celtic greater solidity at the back.

Having served his suspension, Simunovic should return although there were a couple of indications during the win over Livingston that caused a few moments of alarm, least of all from the free-kick which led to Livvy’s consolation strike.

An interesting addendum to Saturday’s display, though, was the arrival of Leigh Griffiths for the final half hour of the game.

The striker has missed the first two qualifying rounds because of injury but looked sharp when he came into the fray on Saturday, with a clear determination to try and get on the scoresheet.

He had an effort off the woodwork and one off the line and although Edouard will start against AEK Athens, with Moussa Dembele still out then the presence of Griffiths is something to consider in a game where Celtic really need to establish a decent lead to take with them on the plane to Athens next week.