O'Neill insists Celtic will rise to occasion

Uefa Cup: Glasgow giants confident of scoring away from home once again to secure their place in the Seville final

Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager, declared last night that his players are as buoyant as he could wish as they prepare for tonight's Uefa Cup semi-final second-leg tie here against Boavista.

O'Neill had feared their last-gasp defeat at Hearts on Saturday could have hit his players' confidence but allayed those concerns after flying into Portugal yesterday afternoon, claiming his players cannot wait for the showdown at the Bessa Stadium.

"The nerves are OK," O'Neill said. "We are fine and we're looking forward to it. We know it's close at hand and we're just trying to prepare as best as we possibly can.

"It's very upbeat. It's great to be here on a glorious April evening and we're involved in a semi-final of the Uefa Cup.

"The lads are very upbeat and looking forward to the game – they are bound to be – and they are as upbeat as I want them to be."

Boavista have also suffered a slump in league form, but the Celtic manager is adamant that domestic form will count for nothing.

"I don't think that will have anything to do with the game," O'Neill said. "It is a Uefa Cup semi-final and I don't think Boavista have been too concerned about their league form for some time. In our last three games we have won one, drawn one and lost one so I don't think that will matter much in the battle tomorrow night."

O'Neill has labelled Boavista favourites to book their place in the Seville final on 21 May, but he revealed that his players are confident of scoring in tonight's game.

If Celtic are to qualify they will certainly have to do it the hard way again, having knocked out Liverpool earlier in the competition following the same 1-1 scoreline at Parkhead.

The Scottish champions also scored in Celta Vigo, Stuttgart and Blackburn en route to the last four and O'Neill is confident of a repeat.

"This will be a difficult game without a doubt," O'Neill added. "Boavista have proved themselves to get to the semi-final and have proved themselves to be a very formidable team.

"They play very strongly and I think that they have done a lot of hard work at Parkhead, but we are in the same position that we were in the quarter-final against Liverpool. We know what we have to do and I think we probably have to score and win the game. The situation is clear for us. But we also need a bit of luck this time.

"Scoring again is what we have to try and do to get through to the final. Getting through to finals is never easy, but we will give it everything we've got. We are capable of scoring and the most important thing is that the players feel they can score and we are going into the match with that in mind.

"It is a big obstacle. Boavista are the favourites to go through, having scored away from home, but we are capable of doing it again."

Celtic are also boosted by the return of Chris Sutton to their squad, although O'Neill looks unlikely to draft the striker straight back into action after an injury lay-off. The Englishman has not played since breaking his wrist against Rangers on 16 March, but after having a lighter cast put on he is "itching" to pull on his Celtic shirt again.

"He's done some training with us," O'Neill said. "He didn't play in Monday's under-21 game against Rangers, but it's nice to see him back in the fold. We'll have a look at it to see what his position is for tomorrow, but he's not had much football.

"It's good to see him back. He doesn't miss too many games, but he has missed a very important stage of the season. He is itching to get back though. I have brought Stanislav Varga and Magnus Hedman and they're not going to be involved at all so I wouldn't read too much into that. He is getting better by the day and I'm delighted that he's coming back."

O'Neill also said that he was happy with the appointment of the Russian referee, Valentin Ivanov.

"The officials are sure to be very good," he concluded. "They will be strong and fair and hopefully Boavista will be fair. That's all we can ask for from the officials and that's what I hope to see tomorrow night."

* Celtic have appointed the Academy and under-15s coach coach Robert Docherty as their new community and development officer. The 38-year-old, who has played for Kilmarnock, Dundee, St Mirren and the Maltese club Hibernians, has worked for seven years as an SFA community and development officer.