Boruc travels with hope in his Bhoy's heart

The Poland international has missed the first two SPL games with a shoulder injury sustained in a pre-season defeat at Newcastle, but first-team coach Tommy Burns hinted that the 27-year-old might be winning the fight to face Spartak on the artificial surface of Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

In the running: Boruc, arriving in Moscow yesterday, could yet be fit for Spartak

Understudy Mark Brown has performed admirably in games against Kilmarnock and Falkirk as Celtic emerged unbeaten.

However, Boruc's ability and experience proved a major factor in the club's march to the last 16 of the competition last season and the Pole will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness before kick-off.

"Yes, Artur is with us," confirmed former manager Burns before yesterday's flight to Russia. "We will look at him over the next few days and see how it goes, but it's not as painful as it was, so it's looking better.

"He is a big personality - you can see that by some of the gear he wears! But he is a big character and someone you would ideally want in the team. Mark Brown has done well for us but I think, in European games, you're always looking for the experienced guys.

"But if Brown has to play, it will be a big experience and big stage for him and I'm sure he'll handle it OK."

Burns reiterated that there are no concerns over playing defender John Kennedy on the FieldTurf surface laid down at the venue of the 1980 Olympic Games.

Celtic trained on a similar pitch in the shadow of Ibrox on Sunday before travelling out a day early to acclimatise themselves with the Luzhniki surface.

"John Kennedy will definitely be available," said Burns. "I don't see any reasons for question marks to be hanging over him. It's not even been mentioned, to be honest.

"We've got no qualms about the pitch. We trained on one yesterday at Harmony Row Boys' Club down in Govan and the pitch was absolutely fantastic. I never thought we would end up training in Govan in my lifetime. But it was a great surface."

Saturday's 4-1 triumph at Falkirk provided a much-needed boost for a Celtic squad who were dealt a tough card when drawn against the reigning Russian champions, by far the most daunting unseeded opponents in the third-round qualifying hat.

Burns admitted: "I'm a Celtic supporter myself and I think everyone had the same reaction to the draw. It's an unexpected one. There's a four-hour flight and we don't know a great deal about them, although chief scout Tom O'Neill had an opportunity to see them at the weekend.

"We will look at videos of them today and tomorrow. There's no doubt it's a difficult tie and they are a good side, there's no question about that, so it's a difficult one. As long as we keep it alive and take it back to Celtic Park, we'll be happy."

Goals for the likely front duo of Kenny Miller and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink on Saturday abated concerns over a current lack of firepower.

And Burns believes the Falkirk result augurs well for confidence ahead of a two-legged tie on which so much depends.

"Over the piece, I thought there was a lot more threat about the team at Falkirk," said Burns. "In the first half, they were passing the ball well but we looked very good on the counter-attack. I think the manager is trying to get the players to sit off a game and go on the counter-attack, with Massimo Donati and Scott Brown getting into the box.

"Once we got a couple of goals in front, the confidence rose and it was pleasing to win in the manner we did."