Our flight to Almaty will be brutal but Celtic's frequent flyers will handle the turbulence

IT'S the longest journey possible in European football to a city just a hop and skip away from China.

- MICHAEL GANNON

But Alistair Johnston insists the mammoth trek to the far end of Kazakhstan will be a walk in the park for Celtic's seasoned globetrotters.

The Hoops are determined to go far in the Champions League but this wasn't quite what they had in mind.

Brendan Rodgers men will face Kairat in Glasgow on Wednesday night for the first leg of their £40million play-off showdown.

And they'll need to finish the job the following week more than 3500 miles from home - before returning to take on Rangers at Ibrox.

If the Celts went that far in the other direction they'd end up in Chicago.

Johnston knows what's ahead and admits it's going to be BRUTAL. But there are plenty of Hoops stars who know what it takes to do the business on the pitch after going long haul.

The Canadian defender said: "We've quite a few guys who do it pretty regularly. Obviously, the Japanese boys, myself, [USA stars] Auston Trusty and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

"It's not fun, I'll tell you that much. It's pretty brutal, it'll be a bit of an eye-opener to the European boys who are used to a little hour or two's flight away.