WE'RE ON A LONG ROAD | POSTECOGLOU

Ange Postecoglou says Celtic "still have got a long way to go" despite strolling past Czech Republic's Jablonec in the third qualifying round of the Europa League at Celtic Park.

The dominant hosts continued their recent resurgence with a brace from David Turnbull before James Forrest added a third.

The Glasgow side will now face Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar in the play-offs in what promises to be a mouth watering tie.

"I'm not getting too carried away about our progress. Wins and good performances builds belief, but we're not the finished article yet." - Ange Postecoglou

After undeservedly losing the Champions League qualifier to Denmark's Midtjylland, then going down 2-1 in the opening Premiership game of the season away to Hearts in the capital, Celtic have bounced back with three straight wins on the trot with 13 goals scored as the Bhoys' season sparks into life.

On last night's UEFA match, the gaffer said: "For the first 25 minutes, we were the team we want to be, but lost our way a bit towards the 45 minute mark, however we upped our tempo again after the restart." The Australian boss continued: "It is hard to maintain that blistering level of intensity all the time, but the boys here will get used to it and pretty soon it'll become second nature.

"We want teams to know they've been in a match when they come here. Nothing worthwhile was ever won without an honest day's graft. I'm pretty sure that's the way successful Celtic teams have played down through the years and it's an ethic we hope to re-establish among the current squad as soon as possible."

Reaction & as it happened

The anticipation was high around Celtic Park, with three stands packed from top to bottom, and as the energy crackled around the stadium, the Celtic players appeared to feed off of it.

Kyogo Furuhashi had scored three in the weekend trouncing of Dundee and, within 40 seconds, could have (probably should have) put Celtic ahead. Finding himself one-on-one with Czech keeper Jan Hanus, he tried to dummy him, but the Czech got a foot out to deny him.

The Japanese forward soon had the ball in the net, but this time he was adjudged to be offside after slipping on to Forrest's through ball.

The goal was coming though. Stephen Welsh twice headed over and Turnbull had a powerful shot pushed away before Celtic finally broke the Czechs' resistance.

Greg Taylor slipped the ball into Turnbull, who steered it past the keeper with a neat finish with the outside of his right foot.

Jablonec had half chances and a penalty claim when Carl Starfelt slid in on Dominik Plestil inside the box, but goalkeeper Joe Hart was an assuring presence in the home box for the young Celtic defence.

Turnbull finished the tie as a contest when he collected a pass from the captain Callum McGregor, sized up the shot from outside the area and hammered it inside the post.

It was cruise control for Celtic, but two chances in a minute from the visitors woke them up, Hart brilliantly blocked close-range shots from Martin Dolezal and Milos Kratochvil.

However, soon it was three when Odsonne Edouard was sent racing clear of the defence with a quality pass from Ryan Christie, and attempted a cheeky lob but the big Czech keeper managed to get a hand to it, however he could only parry it onto the oncoming James Forrest who piled in to hammer home the rebound.

At times, Celtic took their foot off the gas and Hart was nearly punished when he was robbed of the ball after going for a run with it inside the box. Tomas Cvancara fired the loose ball at goal, but the Celtic defence held firm and the big English keeper had Starfelt, Ralston & Co to thank for another clean sheet.

Man of the match - David Turnbull

Even without his two goals, David Turnbull impressed in midfield for Celtic with some great passing.

What did we learn?

Postecoglou's influence on the team is beginning to shine through and again Celtic showed plenty of attacking invention.

At times, the foot came off the gas and still defensively they can creak at times, but two great saves from Joe Hart will do his confidence the world of good and it's a second welcome clean sheet in a row for Celtic.

Who's next?

Celtic will get the chance to avenge defeat by Hearts when the sides meet again this Sunday in the League Cup (3pm kick off), before squaring up to AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night in the Europa League play-offs.