Brendan Rodgers has leapt to the defence of Nir Bitton after the Israeli's selection at centre-half was described as a "£30m gamble".

The midfielder-come-defender struggled to deal with a second-half onslaught in Kazakhstan as Astana pressed to regain a foothold in the tie.

It led media commentators to question Bitton's defensive capabilities.

The world's most expensive player Neymar heads a host of attacking talent set to test the Celtic backline's credentials further in Champions League Group B.

Rodgers is looking forward to the challenge however, and hit out at the criticism of Bitton's displays since moving into a makeshift centre-half position.

"I think some of the criticism that Nir Biton has received that I have been made aware of is absolutely incredible," said Rodgers.

"This is a guy who is a central midfielder, that's his position. I felt it was pretty clear that we had three of our centre halves unavailable to play, two of which had been unavailable for most of the qualification campaign.

"The solutions for us were very minimal, there were very few. So we looked to put Nir in there and a lot of our defending had to be based strategically around having the ball."

He added: "But this is a guy who after the first leg and Kilmarnock last weekend, his foot was in a boot, he couldn't walk for two days.

"Right up until the last training session at the stadium in Astana, he'd just took his boot off and went out and trained.

"Nine out of ten players won't have played the game but he put himself out for the cause and I've got nothing but pure admiration for him. He could easily have pulled out of it and not played."

Rodgers has insisted playing Bitton against Astana was not a gamble.

He said: "I've seen one report saying it was a £30m risk, you could argue it was totally the opposite, if we didn't have Nir Biton we might not be in the Champions League.

"He filled in for us when others were injured, he brought a calmness and control. Of course, sometimes he got caught out defensively like others but he was able to get the job done.

"I think what happens when you put someone like Nir into the back four, you get something called confirmation bias. They try to look biasedly to confirm why the player shouldn't be playing there.

"I didn't see any comments when he stepped out of defence and made the pass that created the goal for Leigh Griffiths third goal or in Rosenborg when he came in and played fantastically."

Drawn with French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain, German giants Bayern Munich and Belgium league champions Anderlecht, Celtic supporters have been rewarded with three glamour home ties.

Rodgers believes their illustrious opponents will face a challenge like no other when they travel to the east end of Glasgow.

He said: "I think teams will look at it and know it will be a very tough evening.

"I know myself as a manager, there are certain grounds and certain atmospheres that can make it very intimidating for players and in turn can make it very difficult.

"Not only that, when you look through the history, you've got guys like Iniesta, Messi and Maldini, who talk about it as a one-off experience."

He added: "Maldini played until he was about 40 talking about how at least once in your lifetime as a professional player you have to sample that atmosphere, that there is no other atmosphere like it.

"That tells you everything you need to know."