Deila warns of Astra danger as he targets Europa League victory

“SCORING FIVE goals at the weekend was very good and I think we could have maybe scored more goals if needed. Scoring four goals in half an hour was quality,” said Deila.

Astra, who appointed former USSR striker Oleg Protasov as manager earlier this month, suffered a 5-1 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening game but only lost 2-1 against Salzburg and Deila has warned they will be dangerous.

The Norwegian added: “It’s a very important match and if we can win we put ourselves in a very good position. If we can win two games against them then that will be fantastic, but they are a very good team.

“The Europa League is a high level. They haven’t started so well as they wanted to do but we know whatAstra are capable of.

“If they are playing in the Scottish league, they will be top and that’s the level we are going to meet. But I also know if we are at our best we have a very good chance to win.

“We have watched their games and the last game was better than the first. Every team has some games where they are not at the level they want to be, but against Salzburg it was quite even.

“Salzburg are a good team so that proves they can make a lot of trouble for the other teams in the group.”

Celtic will make a late decision on the fitness of Kris Commons after the midfielder missed Saturday’s win over Ross County with a buttock injury.

Emilio Izaguirre has recovered from the ankle injury that forced him off in Dingwall and goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska is in the squad despite being injured in a street attack.

Striker John Guidetti is ineligible and winger James Forrest is not ready for first-team action following a hamstring injury.

Astra Guirgiu, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief as star men Kehinde Fatai and SeiduYahaya arrived in time for tonight’s clash — thanks to Celtic.

TheAfrican duo were not allowed to board Astra’s original flight to the UK on Tuesday afternoon after it emerged they did not have the necessary paperwork.

However, visas for Fatai and Kehinde were subsequently fast-tracked through a processing centre in Warsaw and the pair touched down on Scottish soil yesterday.

Astra’s sporting director, Costel Lazar, revealed that Hoops officials aided the administrative process.

“We went through Uefa, and also had assistance from Celtic’s representatives,” explained Lazar.

“Thankfully the were processed.”

Fatai is likely to be a major threat to the Celtic back- l i ne, with t he Nigerian under-21 international Astra’s top scorer in Europe with five goals and has found the net eight times in total for the Romanian Cup holders this term.

visas

SNS Group. Craig Gordon is put through his paces during training at Lennoxtown.