Callum McGregor has warned that Celtic need to ready to hit the ground running when they open their Europa League group against Rosenborg on Thursday night.

Brendan Rodgers’ side host the Norwegians this week and McGregor is optimistic that Celtic will have an advantage having twice put Rosenborg out of the Champions League qualifiers over the last few seasons.

The Norwegians are in a better place now than they were six weeks ago when Celtic beat them in Trondheim. Back then there were rumours of dressing room unrest as Kare Ingebrigtsen was unexpectedly sacked but Dutch manager Rini Coolen who took over in the dugout has yet to be beaten.

Rosenborg have won 9 of their last ten games and drawn one.

“I think the fact that we’ve eliminated them twice in the last two seasons gives us an advantage psychologically,” said the Scotland internationalist. “When you’ve played well and beaten opponents before then it gives you the belief that you can get more results against them.

“We know that we can beat Rosenborg so it’s up to us to turn up with the right attitude on the night. The first game being at home is another bonus for us – the crowd will be behind us and, if we can take the three points, then it’ll help us push on as we look to get out of the group.

“It’s a tough section. When you look at the rest of the competition, most of them are like that. You think of the Champions League as being a level above but when you see some of the teams who are in this tournament then there’s no shortage of quality.

“The standard is high – Rangers have a difficult draw as well – but we’re looking to do something this season and this will be a good test for us.”

It is a busy month for Celtic who are fighting a double pronged attack on domestic and European football between now and the next international break in October.

And McGregor is looking for some fluency as the Parkhead side look to build up some momentum.

“It’s foot to the floor at this stage of the season. There are six games before the next international break and they’re all important ones in different competitions.

“We’ve got to be right at it all the time from now on. We’ve had this for the last three seasons now so we’re getting used to it in terms of being ready fitness wise and getting our preparation right for each match.

“There are cup ties, European matches and crucial games in the league so you’ve just got to take that in your stride and keep churning out performances.”

There is a suspicion about Celtic this term that they will do enough in the high profile games while meandering somewhat through others. There was a flatness about the Parkhead side in Paisley last Friday night as they were held to a scoreless draw by St Mirren, a performance that badly lacked the tempo and energy of the pervious domestic game against Rangers.

“The Rangers match was crucial,” acknowledged McGregor. “We felt that we had to put down a marker and let people know that we’re still here and we’re not going away. The performance on the day was excellent and if Allan McGregor hadn’t pulled off a string of excellent saves then we’d have beaten them by three or four goals again. It’s good for us to know that we’ve still got that in our locker and that we’re able to turn it on when it comes to the big occasions.”