Deila wants more from Celtic

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Having comfortably seen off Icelandic part-timers Stjarnan this week, Celtic have been paired with Qarabag in the third qualifying round. The first leg is in Glasgow on Wednesday, July 29.

Deila is calling for maximum effort before the return in Azerbaijan, claiming their opponents – who were in the Europa League group stages last season – will not fancy playing in front of a full house at Celtic Park. 
   
“Everybody went through the game in Iceland on Wednesday without injury and that’s good,” said the Celtic boss. “When I look back over this month I’m very satisfied with the way we have worked.

“We see improvement all the time so it’s going to be an interesting month coming up. It’s a big step up. We are talking about a very good football team here.  

“They have done very well in Europe and they beat Dnipro in Ukraine and held Inter Milan at home as well so we need to be at that level to beat them.”

Before the Champions League tie, Celtic host Rennes on Saturday and the Norwegian insists the friendly will be ideal preparation.

He said: “We will use the squad wisely on Saturday and use it for preparation. We’ll get some playing time for the players. We have had good results in the last six months, we’re improving all the time and playing at Celtic Park is never easy. We are a very good football team.

‘Tough tie’

“Wednesday is the most important thing and we have to create the performance we did against Inter here last year (3-3 draw). To play at Celtic Park against 60,000 home fans is the worst thing you can do as an opponent. It strikes fear into everybody. We have the best fans in the world and that’s what we have to show on Wednesday.”

Charlie Mulgrew knows that it will be another tough tie against Qarabag but says the team will be ready for the challenge.

“We need to be a lot better. We know we can play a lot better. It will be a lot more difficult in the next round and we have to be up for the game,” said the Scotland defender.

“We know it’s going to be difficult and their crowd will get behind them. We know they will be decent, having got through to this round, and it’s up to us to be prepared for that.

“Everything is really against you but we know what it’s going to be like and when it comes around we need to face up to it. The manager will have us prepared. We will watch footage of them and be ready when the time comes around.”

Remember to catch all the excitement of Ross County’s opening Premiership fixture of the season when they face Celtic on Saturday August 1, on Sky Sports 1HD from 12.00.