Revealed! Celtic's pre-season dates with friendlies announced

It is just over a month until Celtic begin their arduous task of qualifying for the Champions League group stages.

• READ MORE: Revealed! Celtic set for increased Champions League revenue

The first qualifying round stage, where Brendan Rodgers’ men enter, starts on 10/11 July with the draw held on 19 June.

Celtic will have to come through four ties, an increase from three in previous season, to reach the lucrative group stages.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers oversees pre-season training last summer. Picture: SNS/Craig Williamson

The team return for pre-season later this month but they will be without Tom Rogic, Cristian Gamboa, Mikael Lustig and Dedryck Boyata who will all be participating in the World Cup which starts on Thursday 14 June.

Celtic will travel to Austria for an eight-day training camp and will face local side SK Vorwarts Steyr before facing Shamrock Rovers at the Tallaght Stadium on 7 July.

Sandwiched between the club’s first round Champions League qualifiers is a friendly with Belgian side Standard Liege at Celtic Park on Friday 14 July.

The second round of qualifiers is 24/25 July.

Meanwhile, an under-23 Celtic side will travel to South Shields for the South Shields FC International Tournament on the weekend of July 27-29.

Celtic get the pre-season competition underway with a match against French giants Marseille, who are also bringing an under-23 team, before playing either Southampton U23s or South Shields.

• READ MORE: Revealed: Celtic’s potential opponents in the Champions League group stage