ANOTHER important European game awaits Celtic tonight (Thursday), as the Scottish champions return to action in the UEFA Europa League against familiar foes, CFR Cluj.

John Kennedy insists the Bhoys are not approaching the fixture with revenge on their minds as Celtic had only themselves to blame for the last result. Instead, the Hoops will come into the game determined to give a more accurate reflection of their qualities and pick up an important three points.

The 4-3 loss to Cluj in August changed the course of Celtic’s European campaign for the season as Neil Lennon’s side were forced to turn their attention to the Europa League. The result was out of sync with how Celtic had started the season, and the sense of disappointment was compounded by the feeling that the Treble Treble winners were more than capable of overcoming the Romanian champions.

As fate would have it, Cluj ended up in the Europa League draw where they found themselves in Group E alongside Rennes, Lazio and Celtic. The word ‘revenge’ has cropped up ahead of this week’s game at Paradise, but that sentiment is not echoed by Neil Lennon and assistant manager John Kennedy.

“I wouldn’t say we’re looking for revenge against Cluj,” said John Kennedy in an exclusive interview with this week’s Celtic View. “We shot ourselves in the foot more than anything else. We didn’t feel hard done by. We made errors in the game, which ultimately cost us.

“It’s more about making sure we do ourselves justice this time around because we could have, and should have, won. If it weren’t for the errors we made, things could have been different.

“We want to correct them and show that we’re a better team than we showed that night. It’s ultimately down to ourselves, we want to correct it for our own piece of mind and for the fans. We made too many mistakes and gave away too many cheap goals. That’s something you can’t afford to do in Europe. We want to show that we can be much more consistent.

“It’s not like we can pinpoint any of their players and say we owe them one. We owe it to ourselves because we didn’t perform to the level we know we can. It’s about putting that to bed now and showing our true selves on the European stage.”

For the full interview with John Kennedy, see this week’s Celtic View, out now.

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John Kennedy looking to turn the tables on Cluj