Brendan Rodgers is confident Celtic fans will have the patience that might be needed to get past Lincoln Red Imps in their Uefa Champions League qualifier at Parkhead on Wednesday night.
Celtic are surprisingly trailing 1-0 to the part-timers after last week's shock defeat in the first leg of the second round in Gibraltar.
Rodgers expects Lincoln to pack their defence again and believes players and supporters may have to wait for a breakthrough.
However, he is confident that understanding in the stands will not be an issue.
See also:
• First leg: Policeman and part-time football hobbyist of Gibraltar deals 'historic' blow
• Reaction: Celtic make Imps 'look like Barcelona'
The former Liverpool manager said: “The message to the players is similar to the supporters, it is that first 20 minutes if we don’t score a goal then you have to be patient and for that you need the support.
“But thankfully, I understand the Celtic supporters, they understand the game, they know football and patience is something they have been accustomed to.
“You can be an attacking team but there are times when the ball can’t go forward, it has to be circulated.
“Our team will always be set up to create and score goals but if it doesn’t come the message is, they just have to be patient because you might take one hour or 70 minutes in any game before you break a team down and then you can score two, three, four, five goals in the last 20 minutes.
“So if the game is needing the patience then I am sure the Celtic supporters will support the team.”
Rodgers revealed that defender Erik Sviatchenko “is fine” after being taken off with a head knock in the first half of the 2-1 friendly win against Wolfsburg on Saturday although midfielders Nir Bitton (hip flexor) and Stefan Johansen (ankle) are “probably unavailable” albeit both will be assessed.
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