“It is a fantastic achievement to be in the last 16, had you asked me about it eight months or a year ago, I probably would have laughed at it,” said McDonald.

“We are disappointed with the result but it is an experience for us. We know we can’t do that in the next round, there’s a lot to play for and we need to keep our standard.”

McDonald who scored the winner at Celtic Park against Milan back in October, is thrilled with how the season is going for the Hoops.

Celtic lead the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and have, for a second year running, progressed to the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite club competition leaving the Australian-born striker happy to be playing a big part in his team’s success so far.

“I’m enjoying every minute of it,” he admitted. “It has been a great year so far. ”I believed in my own ability, I knew I could play at a high level and there’s certainly a lot more to come from me.“

McDonald admitted he would like to meet a British team in the last 16 of the Champions League.

“It’s great to be in the draw and whoever we get in the next round it’s going to be a very, very difficult rival,” he said." It would be nice to get an all-British affair due to the atmosphere because there’s nothing better than that.

”But we will have to wait and see. We have a while before we return to play in the Champions League and that will allow us to recover our injured players and strengthen our squad.

“There’s no doubt that the manager might be looking to add in January one or two and if he does, I’m sure it will help the team.”