Deila hopes Celtic benefit from Euro boost

Deila's team held the Dutch giants to a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam on Thursday despite being reduced to 10 men. 

It was a good end to a tough week for Deila's side after they lost at Aberdeen to slip five points behind the Dons at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The Scottish champions don't have long to rest before they host fifth placed Dundee on Sunday, but Deila hopes the performance in the Netherlands gives his players a confidence boost to take into the match.

"As a team we had a very good attitude and I'm very proud of the players. We have been through a tough period and there are many games left but this is a good start," Deila said.

"Against Ajax we played well and created chances and defended as a team. For me it starts with a good attitude.

"The boys showed me that they really want to fight. The confidence will come and we will get better and better.

"I think everybody knows that we can play good football and we are a good football team. But against Ajax we needed a good performance and we needed to get some confidence from our performance. 

"The players have shown a great attitude and shown they can bounce back. We now have to get ready for Sunday and start winning games in the league again as well."

- Unlucky -

One player who will be pushing for a place in Deila's starting line-up is Kris Commons.

The Celtic midfielder hasn't featured much for the Hoops this season due to a toe injury but set up both goals in Amsterdam to prove his worth to the Glasgow giants.

"He creates things. Kris is a very good footballer. He has been very unlucky this year and was out for six weeks with an injured toe," Deila said.

"So, he hasn't started so many games. We know he can create things and is very experienced."

Elsewhere, on Saturday Dundee United and their under-pressure boss Jackie McNamara take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tannadice and Hamilton host Motherwell in the Lanarkshire derby at New Douglas Park.

Partick travel to Ross County looking to end a run of four straight defeats, while Kilmarnock will take confidence from their first win of the season last week when they welcome St Johnstone to Rugby Park.

On Sunday, league leaders Aberdeen will attempt to extend their 100 per cent winning start to the season when they travel to Tynecastle to take on Hearts, who have lost their past two games after winning their opening five fixtures.

Fixtures (1400 GMT unless stated):

Saturday

Dundee United v Inverness CT, Hamilton v Motherwell, Kilmarnock v St Johnstone, Ross County v Partick

Sunday

Hearts v Aberdeen (1315 GMT), Celtic v Dundee