Almost exactly a year ago, Celtic were preparing for Kairat Almaty in a Champions League play-off that would ultimately set the tone for a campaign of chaos.

Chants of 'sack the board' - which became the soundtrack of a season that ultimately ended in glory - could be heard during a goalless first-leg draw, prompted by a lack of transfer activity.

Post-match, then manager Brendan Rodgers spoke of the squad needing to be strengthened and demanded his players "run for the bus if you are going to miss it", with Celtic's hopes of qualifying in the balance.

One week and another turgid stalemate later, Rodgers' men missed the bus - and the lucrative Champions League cash it was carrying - after a humiliating night in Kazakhstan ended with a penalty shoot-out defeat.

In the following months, Rodgers suggested his team had too many Honda Civics and not enough Ferraris amid a troubling run of form.

His messy exit was confirmed a week later.

Ten months on, Martin O'Neill - the man who saved Celtic's season by guiding them to a league and cup double - has been provided with two Champions League-proven supercars in attack as Wednesday's play-off first leg with Austrian champions LASK Linz looms.

"Of course it became a major disappointment not to qualify for the Champions League [last season]," said 74-year-old O'Neill, a two-time European Cup winner as a player with Nottingham Forest.

"But I think based on what happened the previous year [reaching the knockout stage], it then became doubly disappointing not to make it.

"Overall I think that the players who are still here at the football club, they may well remember [last year], they may well think that they've got something to do to try and achieve this time."

New Celtic attacking duo Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran scored 10 goals between them in the Champions League proper last term.

Both have made promising starts since their big-money summer arrivals from Bodo/Glimt and Qarabag respectively and will hope to be the difference.

Although Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda have departed, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur have also joined for chunky fees and feature in Celtic's squad for this two-legged affair.

For O'Neill, though, this tie marks another surreal moment in a whirlwind year.

"I didn't think last September or October that I'd be sitting here now thinking about a Champions League game," he said. "If I was, I'd certainly be watching it on TV."

It has been more than 20 years since O'Neill managed a Champions League match, or even a qualifier. His record as a manager in the competition stands at six wins from 18 matches.

In three qualification attempts for the competition, he has been successful twice. There was also a Uefa Cup final appearance in 2003 and he made it to the quarter-finals the following year.

A two-legged play-off against LASK stands between an older and wiser O'Neill and a return to the pinnacle of club football, where he could flex his European pedigree.

The Northern Irishman refused to put a ceiling on what is possible for Celtic at Champions League level, using the club's 1967 European Cup triumph as a benchmark.

"I've said all along, I think the bar was set here way back in 1967," he added. "And from then on, I believe that Celtic should be aspiring to that.

"We may never, ever, ever get there. And obviously with the way that the financial market has moved in football, it's getting more and more difficult for a team from Scotland.

"But that aside, you should still be aspiring to it. That's what we want to try and do. We may never get there, but this is the bar that's been set down.

"The football club won the European Cup, and really, that's what we should be trying to do. We will make an all-out effort to try and make it."

LASK ended a 61-year wait to win the Austrian Bundesliga for just the second time last season, finishing two points above runners-up Sturm Graz.

The fact Sturm went on to thump Hearts 6-0 over two legs in Champions League qualifying earlier this summer highlights the quality Celtic are going to face.

LASK have not lost a game since March and are unbeaten in their past 12, winning 10 of them.

Four of those victories have come in a relentless start to this campaign, in which they have scored 16 goals.

Attacking midfielder Christoph Lang (six) and striker Samuel Adeniran (five) have already netted 11 of those goals between them. American forward Adeniran also scored 15 times last term.

They last competed in European competition two seasons ago, losing to FCSB of Romania in the Europa League play-off round before finishing a lowly 35th in the Conference League after three draws and three defeats, including a 7-0 thrashing away to Fiorentina.

LASK last faced Scottish opposition in 2021, beating St Johnstone 3-1 on aggregate in Conference League qualifying.

And former St Mirren defender Miguel Freckleton, who helped the Buddies beat Celtic in last season's Premier Sports Cup final, is a familiar face in their squad.

O'Neill says it is unlikely Celtic will sign any players - including a replacement for Engels following his West Ham move - before Tuesday's deadline (23:00 BST).

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss both ties through suspension, meaning new midfield arrival Biereth is expected to start.

Injured right-back Alistair Johnston is not included in the squad for this tie.