John Collins admits he would a relish Celtic meeting an English club in the knockout stages of the Europa League. Liverpool joined Everton and Tottenham in the last 32 of the competition after their failure to beat Basel in the Champions League on Tuesday. Manchester City could make it four English teams in the competition depending on how results go in Champions League Group E tonight. Collins admits playing an English team would be a tough draw but it is a test he would welcome and one he believes would be an occasion to savour.
The Celtic assistant manager said: "There are quite a few English teams in it already so it would be nice to meet them further down the line. You have mixed emotions. You obviously would like an easy draw if there is such thing as an easy draw at this stage. But, at the same time, it would be great for the club and the players to test ourselves against a big English team. We watched last night and Liverpool dropped down into the Europa League. It is great, I think it enhances the tournament when the big boys drop in. It gets really exciting."