In August 2002, a Celtic side managed by Martin O'Neill and containing the likes of Neil Lennon, Stiliyan Petrov and Henrik Larsson were knocked out at the third qualifying-round stage of the Champions League on the away goals rule by FC Basel.

Yet, O'Neill's men regrouped significantly, so much so that just nine months later, they played their part in one of the UEFA Cup's most memorable finals alongside Jose Mourinho's Porto, having earlier seen off the likes of Stuttgart, Liverpool and Boavista.

That night in Seville would ultimately end in disappointment for the Bhoys, who were defeated 3-2 courtesy of an extra-time winner from Brazilian striker Derlei. Nevertheless, Celtic's response to their elimination in Switzerland was lauded from all quarters.

It is a similar challenge that awaits the current crop of Celtic players. After they had been granted a reprieve because Polish side Legia Warsaw had fielded an illegible player, the Scottish champions missed out on a place in the group stages of this season's Champions League as a result of a 2-1 aggregate defeat suffered at the hands of NK Maribor.

Like their counterparts of 12 years ago, Celtic will now participate in the second tier of European football in its current guise as the Europa League. However, despite the anguish of having missed out on the Champions League and all the financial benefits that it provides, Chris Sutton, who was a part of the Celtic sides that took on both Basel and Porto, has urged the Hoops to take inspiration from 'The Bhoys from Seville'.

"We should have won the game [in Basel], but sitting in the dressing room afterwards, the overwhelming feeling in the pit of my stomach was one of disappointment. Martin O'Neill told us to use that feeling as a tool and we did that. It galvanised the group and we performed strongly to get to the final. It was an incredible season," he told Sports Mole.

"There is no reason why this current group of Celtic players [cannot do something similar]. They don't have the experience that we had, but now they have some pace in the team, there is no reason why they cannot take the bull by the horns and first of all get through the group. Then, it's knockout football and with Celtic's home record and the influence that the fans have, no team will relish going to Celtic Park on a big European night."

Celtic, under the guidance of Ronny Deila, begin their campaign tomorrow evening against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, who won all six of their Europa League group fixtures last term en route to the round of 16, where they were eliminated, ironically, by Basel.

Adolf Hutter's team have struggled for form in recent outings, though, and are without a victory in three games. They remain the favourites among the bookmakers to win the clash in the Red Bull Arena, but Sutton believes that with the new signings on board and the return from injury of captain Scott Brown, his former club can collect a positive result in Austria.

"In fairness to Deila, now, he has addressed the forward situation and has got pace in the team with the likes of Aleksandar Tonev and Wakaso Mubarak. There is also some physical presence up there with Stefan Scepovic," added the 41-year-old, who was speaking to promote BT Sport's live coverage of the encounter.

"Scott Brown is back in the team and he has an enormous influence, which he did against Aberdeen on Saturday after being out for a while. The impact that he made was incredible because the team had looked a little disjointed without him. They have players, that on their day, are very capable of performing to a high standard. Kris Commons is a very clever player and there is pace in the wide areas, so Celtic should be offering a real threat to Salzburg.

"Salzburg like to press high up the pitch, which should suit Celtic with the pace that they now have. Hopefully they will be looking to counter-attack at every opportunity. Salzburg are on a bad run and people will assume that they are lacking in confidence, but they will want to find a sting in the tail. Celtic should go there and not over-complicate things, while playing to their own strengths. It's a winnable tie."

Celtic have lost on three of their previous four visits to Austria, with the other tie having ended in a 3-3 draw with Rapid Vienna.

BT Sport has live coverage of UEFA Europa League games throughout the group stages and beyond, including Salzburg vs. Celtic this Thursday on BT Sport 1 (not in Republic of Ireland). Visit www.btsport.com to find out more.