THE narrative that quickly emerged from the Celtic camp, and from most reasonable observers, after the Real Madrid defeat last week was that Ange Postecoglou’s men had emerged from the encounter with credit for taking the game to the European champions, and also with lessons to learn after Los Blancos turned it on during the second half of the game.

The conclusion that was swiftly drawn was that the Celtic players must have taken confidence from the way they had Real Madrid rattled during that first half at Celtic Park, and particularly from the way that their manager’s uncompromising approach to the game had been vindicated by that spell of relative dominance.

For Joe Hart though, such affirmation was unnecessary. The experienced goalkeeper was already certain that Celtic’s style of play – allied to the ability of their players – would not only stack up against the best the continent has to offer, but be able to cause them problems.

As the Celtic team gets ready to travel to Warsaw for the second of their Champions League group games against Shakhtar Donetsk tomorrow evening, they do so then high in confidence that they can get themselves on the board in Poland, not because of what they did against Real Madrid, but because of what they do every day.

"We’re obviously pleased with some of the stuff that we did [against Real Madrid], but we are not going to base that off [one game],” Hart said.

“We believe going into [the Shakhtar game] because of what we’ve been building and what we’ve been doing every day.

“We just have to perform on the night, last Tuesday night we didn’t ultimately, but we’ve just got to dust ourselves down and go hard again.

“[Madrid] have been rattled many, many times and won games. They are a bit special when it comes to that, but that is them, and we’ll let them worry about that. We can only worry about us, and we needed a little bit more.

"We believe in what we do. We’ve got a superb manager, we’re all on the same team and we are ready to go, we are ready to push.”

Hart does admit though that the determination within the Celtic squad to succeed in Group F has only ‘#been heightened by the incredible ovation they received from their supporters after last week’s defeat to the Spanish giants, with the players eager to give something back to their fans.

“Wow,” he said. “It was special.

“Look, we’re humans too. I know we’re out there on the pitch and it might look like we’re just footballers and we are oblivious to it, but we’re not. We’re just human and it’s a special place.

“We are pushed by this crowd, we can feel it, but that atmosphere doesn’t happen if they don’t believe in what we are doing and we don’t believe in them, because we are then not able to perform to the levels that we did.

“We can’t take away from the fact that we’re disappointed, that’s the main thing. Credit to them, that’s what they do, they are an exceptional, world-class team. But we’re just trying to stay in our lane and keep on running hard.

“We’re not going to base our confidence on one game, we’re confident in what we do and we believe in it.

“We want to give the best account of ourselves every time we show up, that’s what is asked of us.

“We had sensational support against Real Madrid. It wasn’t to be, but we’ve just got to move forward.

“We will work hard and we will have our heads down, and we will see where it takes us.”

 The next place it will take them is the neutral Stadion Wojska Polskiego, the home of Legia Warsaw, where Shakhtar Donetsk are forced to play their home games in the tournament due to the ongoing conflict in their homeland of Ukraine.

The atmosphere therefore may be a little strange, but Hart has no concerns over the Celtic players finding the appropriate levels of motivation for the match, no matter what may be the situation in the stands.

For the 35-year-old, it doesn’t matter if the game is in the Champions League or is a friendly on a pre-season tour, every time he pulls a Celtic jersey over his head he feels the weight of responsibility that comes with wearing the badge.

“Going away to places like Ross County, Kilmarnock, that’s what gives me fire,” he said.

“Tuesday night was a night for the fans, and I’m gutted we couldn’t give them the result.

“But this club is a special club when it comes to the support, so it doesn’t need occasions like that for you to feel like you need to give back.

“I feel like as soon as I put this shirt on, I’m in a pretty special place.”