NEIL Lennon knows that his Celtic side face a step-up in quality when they face Ferencvaros in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

Having seen off KR Reykjavik in the previous round with an emphatic 6-0 win, the Hoops boss is hoping that home advantage will once again prove beneficial tomorrow night (Wednesday).

But speaking at Lennoxtown today, he explained that the Hungarian champions will be a tough nut to crack.

“It’s early to get a team of this quality and even Djurgarden were a decent quality,” Neil Lennon said, “but we’re excited by it and we’re looking forward to it and we’ve prepared as best as we can.

"Physically, athletically, tactically, quality-wise, Fernecvaros are a big step up. They negotiated the tie against Djurgarden very comfortably, and that wasn’t an easy thing to do, and looking at their Europa League results from last season, they never lost a game away from home in the group to Espanyol, Ludogrets and CSKA Moscow, so they know how to travel.

That’s what lies ahead of us and we know it’s going to be a difficult tie. We’ve done a lot of work on them and we’ve got the utmost respect for them as well.”

Both sides enjoyed some impressive results in the Europa League last season, with Celtic beating Lazio home and away in their group, while Ferencvaros were unbeaten away from home in a group containing Espanyol, Ludogorets and CSKA Moscow.

“Ultimately we want to play in the Champions League,” said Neil Lennon. “It’s the blue riband event, but we know that these ties are very difficult to negotiate.

“Ferencvaros had some pretty good results in the Europa League last season, and they had a pretty comfortable win against Djurgarden in the previous round, so I expect it to be a really tough game for us.

“We have got some new players in the building as well, but we’ve got a team and a squad full of international players, and I think our Europa League run will hopefully stand them in good stead by giving them a taste of what they could have going forward.”

And Celtic will once again have to navigate their way through a European tie at Paradise without any supporters in the stadium, with the one-off tie being played behind closed doors. It’s not an ideal scenario but one that the Celtic squad are continuing to adapt to, and they aim to be in Monday’s draw for the third qualifying round.

“We have an amazing support at home and over the last 20-odd years, the key to our home form has been the support we get, allied to a very motivated team,” the Celtic manager said. “So we’ll have a very motivated team tomorrow but just without that great support have.

“It is a loss, there’s no question of that, and we’re going to have to adapt as best as we can. We did very well against Reykjavik but it’s a real step up.”

Manager: We'll be well-prepared for tough Ferencvaros test