Give Nadir time, says Celts boss

RONNY DEILA insists Nadir Ciftci needs time and space before he will be able to make his mark as a Celtic striker. The £1.5million signing is awaiting his first goal in Parkhead colours after Wednesday’s 4-1 Champions League triumph over Stjarnan in Iceland. And, ahead of the start a six-match SFA ban, the Turk is coming under pressure for his starting place from Leigh Griffiths after last season’s top scorer followed a weekend hat-trick in Spain by coming off the bench to score in Iceland. Preaching patience as Ciftci bids to get off the mark in green and white, however, Deila said: ‘Nadir has done a number of good things on

the pitch. He started very well when he came on against Sociedad and he needs time. That’s just the way it is. ‘He is a young striker, but he has qualities we need here in the team.’ Griffiths made his point with a treble in Saturday’s friendly win over Eibar. Then he followed that with a smart finish for Celtic’s third as the Scottish side earned a tricky tie with Azerbaijan’s Qarabag in the third qualifying round next week. Asked if he expects Griffiths to come knocking on his door demanding a start, Deila said: ‘Why would Leigh knock on my door when I knock on his all of the time to talk with him? ‘I talk a lot with my players and I have done a lot with Leigh over the last year. ‘It is so important we have players who are able to be a substitute sometimes and can go on and perform like he does. ‘That’s team spirit and putting the team in front of yourself. If he continues doing this, it is hard to keep him out of the team.’ Refusing to rule out using both players in a tweak to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, the Norwegian added: ‘Both Nadir and Leigh have different qualities. When the games open up, Leigh is a very good player. ‘We need players who score, so he is important. We can also play two up front. ‘We haven’t done that much because we have not had the time for them to get used to doing it, so everything is a transition.’ Deila also offered assurances to Emilio Izaguirre after the Honduran was axed in Iceland in favour of Charlie Mulgrew at left-back. The Parkhead boss raised questions over Izaguirre’s future when he admitted he was in the market for a new left-back last weekend. St Pauli’s Marcel Halstenberg has been tracked by the Scottish champions, but is no longer an option as Deila said of Izaguirre: ‘He will be back. He’s a good player who has featured in about 95 per cent of the games since I have been here. ‘We chose Charlie in Iceland and we’ll see what we do in the next game. Charlie is a good player with a lot of experience and he can fill a number of different roles. ‘Defensively, he talks and communicates better than Emilio has done recently, so it was better. ‘It’s the same as the strikers, you use them in certain situations. I don’t think Emilio has been different from last year. We talk a lot and he knows the things he has to work on to improve. ‘He’s in our plans for the future.’