UEFA have confirmed the kick-off times for Celtic’s Champions League play-off tie against Kairat Almaty, with the second leg in Kazakhstan set for a late finish.

The first leg will be played at Celtic Park on Wednesday, 20 August, with an 8.00pm start under the lights in Glasgow. A week later, Brendan Rodgers’ side will make the 7,000-mile round trip to Almaty for the decisive clash.

That second leg is scheduled for Tuesday 26 August, kicking off at 5:45pm BST, which is 9:45pm local time. With the match likely to run close to midnight in Kazakhstan, Celtic’s players face a late-night challenge before making the long journey back to Scotland.

The scheduling piles on the difficulty for the Hoops, who will have just days to recover before the first Glasgow derby of the season. Rodgers’ men also have a league fixture against Livingston between the two European ties, adding to an already congested and demanding spell.

Late-night kick-offs in Central Asia are nothing new for Celtic, who have made the trip to Kazakhstan before in European competition. However, with Champions League group stage football on the line and a derby on the horizon this will be one of the most testing weeks of the season for the Scottish champions.

But James Forrest isnt willing to give his teammates any excuses. He told CeltsAreHere;

“With Celtic, we’ve always adjusted time zones, and with Scotland we’ve stayed on UK time.

“It’s not really for us players to worry about – we have loads of really good staff who’ll always keep the players right and give them the best chance to feel good for the games.

“We talk about potentially going to Kazakhstan, but with Celtic we’ve been there a few times. We know it could be a difficult game. We have a lot of international boys in our team who do a lot of travelling, and they know what it’s like as well, so it’s never an excuse. I’ve never heard anyone say that for not going through a tie or anything like that.”