Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers believes his side fully deserved their 2-1 victory over Astana on Wednesday night as they secured their place in the Champions League play-off round.

The two teams went into the second-leg of their tie at Celtic Park with the scores level at 1-1 on aggregate, but a penalty from Leigh Griffiths on the stroke of half-time put the Hoops in the ascendancy.

Substitute Agim Ibraimi levelled things up for the Kazakh champions just after the hour mark, but a stoppage tie spot-kick from Moussa Dembele, his first goal for Celtic, was enough to see Rodgers’ men progress.

The former Liverpool boss believes his side thoroughly merited their victory, but he knows they will face another tough test in the play-off round. He said: “So, a 2-1 victory, we thoroughly deserved to get through.

It is the final step. “There was always going to be three tough rounds. The guys who have had the experience up here tell me that sometimes the first two rounds are more difficult. But that was a difficult test for us and I think we deserved to go through.”

The 43-year-old insists Wednesday’s result has instilled a great deal of belief in his side and he is looking forward to seeing who the club will be pitted against in the next round, with the draw to be made for the play-off round on Friday.

He added: “We have one final step to go and we will see what Friday brings us but certainly it gives the players great belief and hopefully gives the supporters belief.”

Celtic are next in action when they travel to Tynecastle to take on Hearts in their opening match of the new Scottish Premiership season on Sunday.

Rodgers’ men are available at 1.67 to begin the defence of their title with a victory, while the hosts are on offer at 4.75 and the draw is priced at 3.75.