EXPERIENCE in football can only be gained. It can never be engrained.

Time is the sole tool managers and coaches have with which to prepare players for what lies ahead. Manuals and training sessions are all very well but nothing beats actually going out on a pitch, and that's especially in Europe.

Celtic’s recent record in the Champions League and Europa League, for the most part, is that of a club punching well above it’s weight in football’s heavyweight division.

A big reason for is the players know what is expected of them and what to expect. That doesn’t help so much when PSG and Barcelona used them for shooting practice; however, at least this is a group who are well versed in the qualifiers, which is going to be huge in Romania on Wednesday when Neil Lennon takes his team to face FC Cluj who themselves have shown over the years, and in beating Astana and Macaabi Tel Aviv already this season, that they are hardly wet behind the ears.

The Celtic manager said: “The players twice under Brendan Rodgers made it to the group stage and we were unlucky last year and in the four games we have seen this year I have seen that experience. There is a good core there, particularly the Scottish guys. They know how to get it done and I am hoping for more of the same.

“It doesn’t make (winning) any easier but it does help. Handling the pressures, managing the bad moments in the game, they have looked really calm in the four games. I have been really impressed with the way they have played.

“It is good we have that strength, particularly through the spine of the team. There are a couple of mavericks in there, younger ones who will hopefully add to what we already have.

“Fitness levels are good and our football has been good. I think this one is going to be more physical and concentration levels are going to have to be high. They are going to have think their way through the tie a little bit more than they have previously.”

Lennon then rhymed off the players he knows will be key if the Romanian champions are to be taken care of on Wednesday and then in the return in Glasgow, which promises to be a superb night.

He said: “Callum McGregor is just your all-round top professional really. Scott Brown is a great sidekick there. I quite like (Jozo) Simunovic in these sort of situations as well, he's got good experience, Kristoffer Ajer's been strong so far and has the international experience as well now, so it's not like they are a group of rookies going into it but we'll need all that experience.

“I don't know how hostile or intimidating Cluj will be but I know they will be physical and direct and we'll need to defend well. They get the ball in early, they cross the ball early and they have good technicians in the team as well. I don't think they are blessed with great flair but they are a really functional and effective team.

"There's no panic when we lose a goal. I've not seen us lately be under wave after wave of pressure. They seem to be able to manage the game a little bit better these days.”

Cluj are no mugs. Dan Petrescu, their manager, and Lennon crosses paths in their days playing in England and more recently.

Lennon said: “I played against Dan a few times. Chelsea and I think maybe Sheffield Wednesday. He was a good player. I like him a lot. I met him in the winter break when he was manager of Unirea and they came and played us in a bounce game.

“We have them watched obviously and they are a big, strong, physical and experienced team. So we know what we are up against. It is going to be tough, particularly the first game but it is good we are away first because it will give us a good look at them.

“They don’t give a lot away. They are shrewd and counter attacked quite well in Israel. They didn’t give much away. The first leg against Maccabi was quite tense and cagey and I expect this one will be no different really.

“They are sort of around this mark and then every now and again dipping in (to group stage) so it is a dangerous one. It is a step up in quality but we expected that to come at this stage and it is a really important game.”