Champions League/Celtic v Benfica: Gordon Strachan would have been excused for wearing the expression of a troubled man yesterday as he spoke of Celtic's sudden injury crisis, but he insisted he harbours no sense of trepidation over leading an understrength side into tonight's encounter with Benfica.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Thomas Gravesen, players signed by Strachan with the intention of boosting the experience level of a squad lacking in Champions League exposure, are definitely out while Aiden McGeady, Lee Naylor and Maciej Zurawski are doubtful.
Yet Strachan is adamant he will not lose sleep over matters which are beyond his control.
"I'll pick the team in the morning," he said, "but I can't worry about it. Sometimes you can find a gem out of someone being injured, that's the way I look at it.
"I'm apprehensive before every game but not scared of losing players. Other clubs have maybe three or four very important players and if they're missing then it's a problem but I think I've got more important players here. I can probably be a bit more flippant than most managers."
If Naylor fails a fitness test this morning, the 19-year-old Irishman Darren O'Dea is likely to play at left-back, although Strachan could move Stephen McManus there or use Bobo Balde in a three-man defence.
Jiri Jarosik may, depending on Zurawski's fitness, retain his place and Strachan is set to continue with the Dutch teenager Evander Sno in Gravesen's place.
Shaun Maloney will continue to deputise for McGeady, despite being in the midst of a stand-off with the club over a new contract.
"He (Maloney) has got to realise that it's just business, it's nothing personal," explained Strachan, who added that victory tonight against the Portuguese club would represent a "big step" towards qualifying from the group.
Benfica's manager, Fernando Santos, said his team have come to Glasgow to win: "We have a lot of confidence that we can win, and confidence in the way we are playing. We will go for goals."
The Portuguese outfit are still striving for their first win in Group F and Santos knows a defeat at Parkhead would make their chance of progression to the knock-out stages extremely difficult as they would trail Celtic by five points with just three games remaining.
Although Benfica are among five teams who have yet to score in this season's Champions League they have scored four goals in each of their last two Liga matches.
On Saturday they defeated UD Leiria 4-0 as they recorded their first away win of the season and Santos is confident they can achieve their second against Celtic in Glasgow to kick-start their campaign in Europe's premier tournament.
Santos said: "We have come with the intention of winning so we will fight for a win. Celtic is a difficult game as they are a fantastic team but we hope to win."
Real Madrid will be looking to turn the clock back more than 40 years when they take on Steaua Bucharest in a pivotal Group E match tonight.
Real last won in Romania when they beat Dinamo Bucharest in the second round of the European Cup in the 1963-'64 season and have not won on four visits since. A victory over Steaua would boost their chances of advancing from the group
The same, though, goes for Steaua. Both teams have three points from their opening two matches and both could do with a win.
Olympique Lyon, who top the group with six points, take on Dynamo Kiev, and are followed by Real and Steaua on three and Dynamo Kiev with none.
Celtic v Benfica
Celtic Park, 7.45
On TV: RTÉ 2, Sky Sports 2
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