Joe Ledley eyes early progress for Celtic

Celtic trio Kris Commons, Joe Ledley and Adam Matthews take to the streets of Glasgow to launch the new home kit. Picture: SNS

The Welsh midfielder was among the first group of Celtic players to report back for pre-season training yesterday and knows the task facing Neil Lennon’s squad will quickly come into sharp focus when the second qualifying round draw of Europe’s elite club tournament is made on Monday.

That is the first of three rounds Celtic must negotiate, starting on 16 or 17 July and culminating at the end of August, if they are to once again enjoy the sporting prestige and high finance of the group stage.

As unopposable favourites to win the domestic title again, Champions League football is more crucial than ever for Celtic to give real meaning to their season and provide an incentive for their best players to remain at the club.

“The whole season hinges on getting into the group stages again,” said Ledley. “Obviously, the fans, the players and everyone at the club needs it. It’s a fantastic competition to play in, the best in the world and, hopefully, we can get there again.

“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on us after what we achieved last season but it’s down to us and hopefully we can cross that border.

“It’s a bit different from last season as there are three qualifiers and that makes it even more difficult.

“But we’re up for the task and the challenge and hopefully we can do it. It’s harder to get in than last year but that’s football and we’ve just got to get on with it. We’re really looking forward to the challenge and hopefully with the players we’ve got, plus maybe more coming in, hopefully we can do it. The draw is on Monday so it’s all going to come along so early this season. But we’re looking forward to it so, hopefully, we’ll be ready and can go from there.

“It was difficult last season with the qualifiers and it’s going to be difficult again. It’s all going to be teams who want to play in the Champions League as much as us.

“We need to be prepared for that and, hopefully, get our fitness levels right to hopefully go from there. What we achieved last season was brilliant but that’s history now and we need to move on. Hopefully, we can qualify for the group stages again and see where we go.

“We’ll maybe be a more feared team than last season. People will have noticed what we achieved last year but we need to just go out there and concentrate on ourselves. That’s our main thing. We did that last season – we worked on ourselves without focusing too much on anybody else. We’ll do that again this season.

“As a team, we’re all really tight together and we work hard for one another. Everyone loves the club and loves working together week-in, week-out. Hopefully we can keep everyone together and go from there.

“Players like myself want to play in the Champions League. Our main aim has to be to keep the players we have already. It’s like any club – if you can offer Champions League football, players are going to want to stay or alternatively come and sign for us.”

Dutch under-21 international defender Virgil van Dijk is expected to complete his move to Celtic from Groningen today, making him Lennon’s second summer signing after the capture of Portuguese striker Amido Balde.

“It’s great that the club are getting new signings in early,” said Ledley. “When I joined from Cardiff, I came early in the summer and it makes such a difference. It’s so much better – you gel better and it gives you time to adapt to the football we play and get a taste for the high intensity of training.

“It’s good the gaffer has brought in two new players  already. It helps off the pitch as well because you have to adapt to a different lifestyle as well. It’s going to be difficult for them but hopefully they’ll adapt quickly. We’ll give them plenty of help off the pitch.”

Ledley was speaking as Celtic unveiled their new Nike playing kit in Glasgow. They will wear it in a season when their retention of the title is regarded as a formality, but Ledley insists they will not lack motivation in league fixtures.

“Everyone lifts their game against us,” he said. “As players, we want to better ourselves and go out and play every single game, trying to do better than last season. That’s our main aim. We’ve a title to defend and hopefully we can do that successfully. That’s the main aim – and hopefully we can win some more cups. You have to have aims every season and, hopefully, we can achieve them.”