“Astute” defending holds the key to Celtic’s hopes of reaching the Women’s Champions League group stage for the first time.
That’s the verdict of Scotland captain and Aston Villa defender Rachel Corsie, who is backing Elena Sadiku’s side to achieve the historic feat.
If Celtic beat KuPS of Finland in Lithuania on Wednesday (10:00 BST) they will meet host club FC Gintra or Moldovan side Agarista CSF for a place in the 16-team group stage.
“I feel optimistic for Celtic, the first tie will be the trickier of the two,” said Corsie on the BBC’s Behind The Goals podcast.
“It’s quite an unusual set-up, that’s what adds to the difficulty, not just the opposition.
“Maybe this is naive but I do feel Celtic have a good opportunity to get through this and get into the group stage, which would be an incredible achievement.
“When you look at the sides in the group stages, you’re talking about a lot of the top teams in Europe, not many teams get there.
“You have to be good defensively. Celtic have good players that can score and get that goal but you have to be really astute defensively.
“If they can do that and limit opportunities then they will come through the two games, I feel optimistic about it.”