Barry Robson checked in at Glasgow Airport with his Celtic team-mates for their flight to Spain this morning. Despite major concerns over his groin problem the midfielder has travelled with the squad ahead of Tuesday night's Group E game against Villareal.
Celtic's quest for their first away victory in the competition continues and they really need to improve their shocking record away from home after a rare stumble at Celtic Park in the opening group game against Aalborg saw them drop two points in the 0-0 draw. Mark Wilson and Paul Hartley are confident in the team's ability as they head for the Spanish club's El Madrigal stadium.
"It's going to be difficult because it's a difficult group we are in," said defender Mark Wilson "I think everybody thought Aalborg were going to be easy to roll over but you won't roll over any teams in the Champions League. The boys knew that when the draw was made. When you are playing in the Champions League, teams are full of quality.
"But we can maybe pick up something away from home this season." he continued, "In previous seasons it's been difficult for us but Porto in pre-season was very much like a Champions League game away from home, even though it was a friendly."
"We have been a bit unfortunate away from home," added Wilson, "the Benfica game springs to mind where we suffered bad luck and ended up getting beat. After Villarreal we still have two remaining home games and Aalborg in Denmark. It's going to be difficult at Villarreal and Old Trafford, they are tough games. We'll be looking to pick up a point or three but if we don't, I don't think it's the end of the campaign by any means."
Paul Hartley also believes the team is capable off adding to the miserly total of one away point from 15 games in the group stages. "It's a new season, everyone has spoken about our away form but we have the players now who are capable of getting a result away from home." he said "They are a strong team but we have got stronger too. You have to look at the depth we have now so we go into the game with a lot of confidence."
"This is probably the strongest squad we have had for a long time, we've got match-winners and hopefully, on the night, someone has that wee bit of quality that can get us a result." said the midfielder, "We have players who can play different systems. We tried a few things out in the summer, but it depends on what the manager decides."
"We have to make sure we defend properly as a team and if we get chances, we have to take them, There might be long spells tomorrow night where we might not have the ball, but when we have the ball, we have to make sure we keep it better." continued Hartley, "I wouldn't say if we lost it would be a disaster but it would be nice if we could get a point away from home. We probably will need something from one of the away games but it might not be tomorrow night. But hopefully it will be."