Celtic hit by Charlie Mulgrew injury blow ahead of Europa League opener

Ajax captain Davy Klaassen is confident his side can get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start against Celtic.

The Hoops exited the Champions League after losing to Swedish champions Malmo at the playoff stage and have dropped into the Europa League as a outcome.

Joined by Celtic, Fenerbahce and Molde in Group A, Ajax could hardly have been dealt a tougher draw.

“It’s a attractive draw”. “They are a great club with a great history, so it’s going to be a wonderful challenge for us”, Collins told SkySports. Everybody will expect them to finish last in the group.

“We will have to collect most of our points at home, starting on Thursday”.

“The team has not been picked but Jozo trained very well and there’s every chance he could get his debut”, he said. The midfielder is suffering from a back injury.

The Norwegian conceded that Ajax will be tough opposition to get past, insisting that the fixture will be a good challenge for his side. It won’t be easy, but I think we can win this.

“We want to thank all the fans for their loyalty and attendance”, said the Amsterdam ArenA’s stadium manager Jeroen van Iersel.

The Scottish champions begin their Europa League campaign against the Dutch outfit on Thursday evening but will have to change their defensive line-up again after Mulgrew was ruled out for what could be several weeks.