Celtic in command but Rodgers laments poor defending

Soccer Football - Europa League - Play-Off First Leg - FK Suduva v Celtic - Suduva Stadium, Marijampole, Lithuania - August 23, 2018 Celtic's Craig Gordon with Callum McGregor, Leigh Griffiths and James Forrest after the match REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

(Reuters) - Celtic have one foot in the Europa League group stage after their 1-1 draw with Suduva in Lithuania on Thursday but Rangers manager Steven Gerrard conceded his side had plenty of work to do after a 1-0 home win over Russia's Ufa.

Poor defending had seen Celtic knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by AEK Athens last week and, after taking a third minute lead through Olivier Ntcham, they conceded another soft goal 10 minutes later when Ovidijus Verbickas headed home from a free-kick.