McDonald wants home comforts

The Bhoys welcome the Gunners to Glasgow on Tuesday night for the first leg of their qualifying play-off, which can be seen live on Sky Sports 2 & HD2.

McDonald is fully aware of the magnitude of the test SPL giants Celtic are facing in their Battle of Britain clash with their Premier League rivals.

After watching Arsenal destroy Everton on Saturday, the Australia striker recognises Arsene Wenger's side's quality and he knows earning a home advantage will be crucial ahead of the second leg at Emirates Stadium.

"We know we need a win - something we can take down there to make them work at the Emirates," said McDonald.

"We believe we can get at them and we have to try and dominate possession.

Big carrot

"We all know Arsenal are very good, but we need to be tight on them. There's a big carrot dangling here for us.

"We will have 58,000 of our fans roaring us on. They can give us that extra lift that can take us over that line.

"They are a very good side and they were very impressive to say the least against Everton. Arsene Wenger just keeps producing these young players.

"But we have huge belief in ourselves and the atmosphere at Parkhead will give us that extra lift."

McDonald believes that if Celtic can eliminate Arsenal it would equal the club's recent achievement of qualifying for the last 16 of the competition twice.

He said: "Of course, we know it's going to be tough but if we were to qualify, this would be right up there with getting to the last 16 of the Champions League."