Bhoys can have undercooked rivals on toast

AT a key time in qualification, the boot moves on to the other foot for Celtic.

The earlier the Champions League rounds have started for the Hoops over the past few years, the bigger the issue has become with the absence of preparation time.

It has hindered their competitive edge – lack of matches under their belts, being undercooked.

In some ways they still will be. But compared with AEK Athens they are up and flying.

The Greek champs are going to be a step up in quality compared with Alashkert and Rosenborg.

Brendan Rodgers and his team had more than enough to deal with the Armenians and the Norwegians. Given the experience they have gained in the past couple of seasons and the talent in their squad, they are also well capable of handling the Greeks.

What has to be a huge, and perhaps even pivotal, factor is the lack of preparation the opposition will have.

While Celtic get their Premiership defence underway against Livingston tomorrow, AEK are still three full weeks away from putting their crown on the line.

The Greek Super League season isn’t due to start until August 25 and that has to be a positive for the Hoops.

AEK are a massive club who have been going through a huge rehabilitation.

They’ve had their problems recently and were dropped into the third tier due to cash issues five years ago.

But they’ve fought their way back superbly and landed the title for the first time in 24 years, losing only two games out of 30.

Title-winning boss Manuel Jimenez returned to his homeland in Spain to become gaffer at Las Palmas and has been replaced by Marinos Ouzounidis.

But there have been some impressive-looking players recruited during the summer including a couple of Argentines, Lucas Boye and Ezequiel Ponce, on loan deals from Italy.

Ouzounidis reckons Celtic are nothing special. That is dangerous talk because coming to play in front of 60,000 at Parkhead when you have only had four friendly games as preparation is daunting.

Celtic have built group-stage qualification on blistering home performances. Blasting five goals past Hapoel Beer Sheva in the first leg of the play-off two years ago gave them

AEK are still three full weeks away from putting their crown on the line

enough of a cushion to edge through a gut-churning return leg.

The five goals rattled past Astana in Glasgow last term again made a perilous 20-minute spell of anguish in Kazakhstan sustainable.

It would be outlandish to expect Celtic to hammer five goals past AEK next Wednesday. But the door is open for them to take a giant step towards the next stage.

Rodgers is already eyeing it. He said as much before he even stepped on to the flight home from Trondheim.

AEK might be undercooked now. If Celtic get after them they might be fully toasted and grilled on both sides by this time next week. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT