Captain plays down visitors’ chances

Rosenborg skipper Mike Jensen insists Celtic are favourites to progress from their Champions League qualifier ahead of tonight’s first leg at Parkhead.

The two clubs met in the penultimate qualifier last season and it took a superb strike from James Forrest in Trondheim to send Brendan Rodgers’ side through 1-0 on aggregate.

Jensen, 30, claimed Rosenborg had a “small chance”. When asked if that meant he considered the Scottish champions favourites to get through to play AEK Athens in the next round, he said: “I would say that, yes. We played Europa League last year and they played Champions League – and they beat us.

“Celtic is a bigger club and it’s an advantage to them that the first game is here. But we are really looking forward to the game.

“Last year we should have scored a goal. We were happy in how we played, but football is small margins and we needed a little bit more quality and luck and maybe we could have won the first leg.

“You have to work hard for those small margins and we will do that on Wednesday night.”

The Denmark international refused to discuss the managerial upheaval which saw academy director Rini Coolen put in charge of the club last week.

The decision led to the players issuing a statement in which they “vehemently disagreed” with the move.

Asked about the departure of his former manager, Jensen just said: “We are really looking forward to the game.

“We are excited. It was a great experience when we were here last year and we are looking forward to the game.”

Asked if any problems with the board had been solved, he replied: “I have no comment on that. Let’s discuss the game tomorrow.”

Mike Jensen: Gives his side a “small chance” in tie.