Neil Lennon is trying to keep a lid on expectations and assumption ahead of Celtic's Champions League play-off game against Helsingborg tonight. The SPL joint-leaders returned from Sweden with a 2-0 win after the first leg, with most people believing the return game in Glasgow to be no more than a formality. However, nothing is ever clear cut in football and the Celtic manager has doubts over defender Thomas Rogne, captain Scott Brown, striker Georgios Samaras and midfielder Kris Commons, who all missed Saturday's 4-2 league win at Inverness. They will all have to pass fitness tests or will leave the squad stretched. Lennon was at pains to stress that the tie was far from over. Lennon did not look too confident when discussing his injury doubts. He said: "We still have a few nagging doubts regarding the boys we left out at the weekend so we will see how they are. Thomas has an ankle problem, Kris has an on-going ankle problem and Scott (is a doubt) with a sore groin. Some might not be fit to play, some might, so we will just have to gauge that tomorrow. But apart from that, we came through the game at the weekend injury-free so we will have a decent-sized squad to pick from.'' Lennon went on: "I am sitting here a lot more comfortable than I would be if it was 0-0 or 1-1 or we were chasing the game. We are at home but we know the tie is not over yet. I am not getting ahead of myself. We still have to qualify against a very good, motivated Helsingborg team. I can't look too far ahead. Football has a funny way of kicking you when you think you have cracked it. We have prepared as low-key as we possibly can for this game because we know there is a lot of hype surrounding it and we are trying to protect the players from it. Really, we just want to get the game started.'' The same script must have been handed out to all Celtic personnel as defender Charlie Mulgrew revealed the manager has warned against complacency. He said: "Nobody in that dressing room thinks the tie is done, not at all. The manager has drilled that home to us that we can't get complacent, it is only half-time and there is a long way to go. Of course the mind is wandering, thinking of who you could play but you have to try your best not to do that and to do the job first. We are not thinking we are 2-0 up. It will be in the back of our mind somewhere but we have to go out and do the job and try to win the game. We are playing at Celtic Park and we will go and look to win the game and hopefully we will do that.'' Asked if he could put the chance of making it to the group stages of the Champions League in the context of his Celtic career, the Scotland international said: "It is probably the biggest. It is massive for the club and all the players involved but we will be approaching it as just another game. We know what we have to do and we will concentrate on that. We won't get sucked into the hype too much. We know there is still a job to be done and we expect a hard game.''
Source: FOOTYMAD
