Captain Finonchenko confident as Shakhter Karagandy arrive in Glasgow

Shakhter Karagandy captain Andrei Finonchenko insists it will be a huge achievement for the whole of Kazakhstan if his side can reach the Champions League group stage.

The Kazakh team holds a 2-0 lead heading in to the second leg of the play-off match in Glasgow thanks to goals from Finonchenko and Sergey Khizhnichenko.

The squad arrived in Glasgow for the tie in confident mood despite manager Viktor Kumykov claiming Celtic remain favourites to go through.

But skipper Finonchenko said: "We don't need to win the game, we just need to qualify for the next round. We think Celtic are a bigger and more famous club in Europe so we think they are favourites to qualify for the next round.

"It would be a big accomplishment not just for the club and the players but for the whole nation."

Head coach Kumykov added: "We can't be sure of anything in this game. Celtic came to Kazakhstan and they were sure they were going to score two goals but they didn't so that shows that you cannot be sure of anything. We can only try."

STV