Celtic's Scott Brown hails 'gutsy' display in edging out Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Celtic captain Scott Brown feels they deserve their place in the Champions League group stages after a "gutsy" display in Israel.

The Scottish champions endured a tougher night than expected after going 2-0 down to Hapoel Be'er Sheva early in the second half following a defensive mix-up when Saidy Janko bumped into Craig Gordon, who spilled the ball for Ovidiu Hoban to net.

But Celtic were ultimately grateful to Gordon's first-half penalty save as they held on for a 5-4 aggregate win to rejoin Europe's elite following two seasons out of the competition.

Brown told BT Sport: "We made it tough for ourselves but this big man (Gordon) saved our day once again, an outstanding performance from start to finish and a penalty save as well. The way he has been playing recently is outstanding.

"We managed to dig deep and it was a gutsy performance.

"It's been a couple of years since we have been in the Champions League but we deserve our place."

Gordon felt there was little he could do about the second goal.

"I didn't even see Saidy coming," he said. "I shouted to Kolo (Toure) to let it run and Saidy has come in on my blind side and crashed into me. These things happen but we managed to see the game out.

"I think I did all right, I don't think there was a lot I could do about the second goal to be honest with you. I thought I handled everything the came in the box and that's all I can do."