‘NO IBROX EXCUSES FOR TITLE FAILURE’

have to be good enough if you are going to go up and every club now is getting new players in during January,’ stated Deila. ‘If it’s Rangers or Hibs or whoever is coming up, then they have to be good enough to get into the top division. That is how I am thinking about it. Right now, both of them are in the Championship.’ With Rangers, Falkirk and Hibs embroiled now in a three-way title fight, the identity of the Championship winner may not be known until the final weeks of the season. Asked if he had a preference to which of the sides came up, Deila replied: ‘I don’t care. I want to have the best teams in the top division.’ Stokes yesterday declared himself determined to prove a point to Deila between now and the end of the campaign. The 27-year-old Dubliner chose a return to Easter Road ahead of other offers from Inverness Caley Thistle and Dundee United. He believes he can yet claim a place in Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad for the upcoming European Championships. Deila believes the striker is now in the right place to resume doing what he does best. ‘For me, the most important thing for Stokes now is that he goes to an environment where he is wanted, where he will play and where he is happy so he can get games and get his career on track again,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘That will benefit him, it will benefit Hibs and it will benefit us.’

RONNY DEILA has warned Rangers they will have no excuses if they fail to win the Championship this season. The Norwegian has sanctioned Anthony Stokes joining Hibs on loan for the remainder of the season — a major boost to one of the Ibrox club’s main title rivals. With Celtic open about the fact they have lost out financially in Rangers’ absence from the top flight, Stokes’ short-term move could be seen as counter-productive for the Parkhead club in one sense. But Deila, who claims to be disinterested in which Championship side eventually prevails, feels the Stokes deal is simply a challenge Rangers have to overcome if they are to prove themselves worthy of a return to the top flight. ‘I have answered this question many times and I have said the same — you