CELTIC secured their place in today’s Europa League group-stage draw with a dominant win against Swedish champions AIK, and Neil Lennon believes his side’s performance over the two legs gives his team confidence going into Sunday’s Glasgow derby.

After defeating AIK 2-0 in Glasgow last week, Celtic travelled to Stockholm for the return leg of their play-off tie where they dismantled their opponents in style with a 4-1 win, to close out the tie 6-1 on aggregate.

James Forrest continued his exceptional form in Thursday night’s game as he opened the scoring with a stunning strike. Mikey Johnston added to his goals tally and Christopher Jullien and Lewis Morgan bagged their first goals for Celtic to round off the scoring.

Jullien’s goal came from a well-worked corner, and the Frenchman was immediately embraced by Scott Brown, who was unfortunate not to have been credited with the goal given the touch he had from one-yard.

“Brown's raging,” laughed Neil Lennon, speaking to Celtic TV immediately after the final whistle. “He thinks he's nicked it off him. It's something Damien and John have worked on, the set-play, and it was a great time to use it. It came off perfectly and that's testament to the work the boys have put in in the background. I'm delighted for Lewis to get his goal too. He's worked really hard for the team and he's got his just rewards.”

The elation from the performance and making the group stages was tempered by Kristoffer Ajer going off injured in the first half. With Celtic traveling to Ibrox for the first Glasgow derby of the season, there was further concern when Odsonne Edouard had to be substituted in the second-half.

“Kris is a worry, he'll be a major doubt for Sunday,” conceded Neil Lennon. “Odsonne's fine, it's just cramp so we'll wrap him up in cotton wool for ahead of Sunday. He should be okay. He's playing brilliantly, leading the line brilliantly and he's a very important player for us. Bayo came on and did a great job for us.”

Celtic’s win means the Scottish champions have secured European football until at least Christmas, and they will find out their opponents when the draw for the Europa League takes place this afternoon. However, Neil Lennon admitted there was no time for Celtic to sit back and enjoy their achievement as they stepped up their preparations for Sunday’s trip to Ibrox.

“There's no respite, there's just a few days now until the next one. We'll get them in on Saturday. They're off today (Friday) so we'll get them well-rested and recovered. psychologically that'll give them a huge boost going into Sunday. I hope the fans enjoyed it. It's been a difficult month at times and I get that. The players have focused on trying to put on performances and I think they did that in Sweden.”

Manager: Europa League performance a boost for Glasgow derby