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JOHN COLLINS last night claimed Scottish players aren’t good enough to give Celtic the preparation they need for the Champions League.

The Hoops No.2 insists his team have had to learn how to defend against better

opposition on the job in Europe because players in the Premiership don’t have the sharpness or smarts to challenge them.

The champions shipped 23 goals in 14 games on the continent last season but conceded just 17 times in their entire league campaign.

Collins believes they have gone a long way to remedying that already with their back-to-back clean sheets against Qarabag – but no thanks to the opposition here.

He said: “We conceded too many goals in Europe last year. If you become open and detached against good players and teams you get punished.

“It’s something that doesn’t happen in Scotland. No disrespect to teams here but they’re not clever enough players or quick enough thinkers to punish us.”