Engels says Celtic 'belong to knockout stages' ahead of Young Boys showdown

Midfielder Arne Engels has said Celtic “belong to the knockout stages” ahead of their crucial league phase showdown against Young Boys.

Celtic could seal their place in the play-off stage of the Champions League this week with victory against the Swiss side at Celtic Park on Wednesday evening all but securing a play-off spot, with a tough trip to Aston Villa to spare.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have picked up nine points from their opening six games in the competition, and midfielder Engels has said he believes his side are “ready and focused” on what they need to do.

“This group has a lot of big things they want to achieve together,” Engels said.

“Right now I don’t want to talk about what if or what would be, we still need to achieve it and that’s a big game for us coming on Wednesday and a big opportunity.

“I think we are ready for it as a squad and we feel what we can do in some types of games that we have the qualities to make a difference, and we feel in big games that we can do really well and that we can perform as a team.

“We all feel that we belong to the knockouts and we will do everything to go there.”

Young Boys will be looking to bounce back in Glasgow after they fell to ninth in the Swiss Super League following a 0-0 draw with bottom club FC Winterthur on Saturday.

The Swiss side currently sit bottom of the Champions League, but Engles said that his side are not taking the challenge lightly.

“It’s Champions League and every team in the Champions League has a lot of qualities, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the Champions League so we need to be on top of our game.

“I think we are ready for it, as a team we are focused on what we need to do , and like we have shown already in previous weeks we can create a lot of chances and I’m hoping we can do the same again.”

“The supporters will be there, and we will be there, so it will be a really crazy night hopefully and it’s always unbelievable to play at Celtic Park, especially on European Nights so I’m really looking forward to that, and the team is really looking forward to it.”