I think all of us would agree on a couple of things about the Celtic team and where it presently stands.

When the transfer window closed, most of us felt that we had probably done enough to dominate domestically. The results against the Ibrox club shook that confidence, but they did not destroy it, because at the end of the day they are one team.

We have lost one league match. We have also lost a League Cup game, but I think that hurts less than many of us expected it might. We all know what the priority is. It is the league.

And over the course of a 38-game campaign, I think most of us remain pretty confident that this squad has enough to get the job done.

The other thing we agreed on is that, in the absence of signing the calibre of players many of us thought would arrive if we had made the Champions League groups, Celtic are not sufficiently prepared for Europe.

The personnel required to succeed properly on that stage simply is not there.

Europe is probably a bridge too far for this Celtic team this season. It is going to take a club which treats European football more seriously than this one presently does before we are properly equipped for it.

But here is the thing.

Celtic may not have built a team ready for Europe.

They may, however, finally have built the half of one that can win European games.

Because at least when it comes to the home matches, it might just be the right half.

The half with the goals in it.

The thing that shocked most of us about the twin defeats against the Ibrox club was not even the defensive lapses and goalkeeping errors which allowed them to win both games.

At Celtic Park in particular, we only conceded one, and although it was a poor goal to lose, the defensive frailties which had been evident at Ibrox were not there to anything like the same degree. The real problem in both games was what we offered going forward.

We did not create enough chances. We did not put their defence under sustained pressure. We did not put their team under sustained pressure.

And then Dundee showed us at the weekend just how vulnerable that side could be when somebody actually went at them.

A day later, we went out and showed exactly what pace, movement and the right playing system can do for this Celtic team.

Seven goals later, we are all feeling an awful lot better about our attacking prowess.

So we still carry the very real fear that we are not defensively equipped for some of the better sides we will face in Europe.

But that has to be balanced against the suspicion that maybe we have enough at the other end of the pitch.

A suspicion is all it is.

But if we can create chances, and if we have the players capable of putting them away, then maybe in some of these European ties that is all we need.

Firepower. Goals.

Yes, most of us expect that we will concede at the other end. But football, stripped down to its most basic parameters, is still a brutally simple game.

The objective is to score more than the other team.

And if we genuinely believe we can do that, then there is at least some foundation for confidence.

Nobody thinks Thursday night will be easy. I have not met a single person who believes we will get through the Celta Vigo game without conceding at least one goal.

But we have enough at the other end of the pitch to get three points.

There is nothing straightforward about playing a La Liga side which is in this competition on merit. They will not be easy opponents.

But let us not kid ourselves either. We are not talking about an elite club. They are beatable. They have weaknesses we can exploit.

And for the first time in a while, we have the kind of presence at the top end of the pitch which makes us think that we can.

On the podcast last night, myself and Boise both agreed that 3-2 to Celtic feels like a reasonable expectation.

Because we know we are defensively suspect, and so we expect to concede. But we also know that between Camilo Durán, Callum Osmand, Haissem Hassan, Kasper Høgh, Benjamin Nygren and Mika Baur, there are plenty of players in this team who can put the ball in the back of the net.

Even without the Green Brigade, who are a huge loss for this game and whose absence remains a self-inflicted wound of enormous proportions by the people running this club, the Celtic Park atmosphere will still be special.

On a European night, especially so.

And between that atmosphere and the confidence this team must surely have after putting seven past Hearts, there is a sense amongst the support that something might be possible on Thursday night.

Those hopes may not be in vain. We will not know until the game is played.

But having watched our attacking play over the last couple of matches, I actually feel pretty optimistic that maybe, just maybe, we have turned a corner in that regard.

The manager seems to have found a system which works. A lot will still depend on a midfield which is not ready, a central defence which is not ready and a goalkeeper who is not ready.

But from the middle of the pitch forward, we are as good as I have seen us in a while.

And maybe, just maybe, when it comes to whether we can finish in one of those qualification places, even if it is nowhere near the top end of the table, that might be enough.

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