THE appliance of science is helping fuel Celtic's turbo-charged surge towards the title.

Ronny Deila has pushed the button on a green machine which has overpowered almost all it has encountered in the league since the turn of the year.

Only St Johnstone with a shock win and Inverness with a draw have managed to put any spokes in their wheel since 2015 dawned, while an impressive 14 games have been won.

That's what has been required to keep an almost-equally-impressive Aberdeen trailing in their wake.

Deila acknowledges it is a major plus that the Parkhead club have the biggest squad.

But it still comes down to how you use them - especially when you have committed so much into the season where Europe remained on their fixture list until March and the Treble was alive until last week.

Which is where the Norwegian has leant heavily on is medical and sports science staff.

Having used 30 players in the 57 games played across four different competitions, the plan has been to monitor the condition of each and every one of them.

That way, they know who is ready to play to their optimum, and who might be in need of a rest as the risk of injury increases due to the number of minutes they have been operating flat out, both in training and in games.

"That's very important, and we manage that well," said Deila as he reflected on the synergy between the management and support teams at Lennoxtown.

"We have not had a lot injuries since Christmas, and that is something I am pleased about.

"Now we just have to keep working in the right way."

Stefan Johansen's rare rest for last Wednesday's game against Dundee was a case in point.

The non-stop Norwegian had played in all but four of the Hoops' matches to that point, and has also featured heavily for his national team in a 59-game campaign.

Batteries recharged, the club's Player of the Year bounced right back with another power-packed display at Tannadice to help the Hoops win 3-0 and inch nearer to their fourth straight title.

Leigh Griffiths stole the show with his hat-trick as the striker added another chapter to his Bhoys-own story in the second half of the season.

Likewise, Nir Bitton has stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight since the turn of the year.

Deila applauds the change in attitude and application by both men, but also attributes their strong finishes to the campaign to the fact they did not have too much game time in the opening five months.

He reasoned: "It looks now that some of the players are starting to feel it after we've played 57 games this season.

"That's normal. But they just have to stick in there and win games.

"We have shown a lot of consistency in the last month, in terms of winning games, and that is satisfying."

As was the second-half improvement shown against United at the weekend, a measure of how willing his players are to continue to listen to the manager and meet his exacting demands.

It was the seventh and, fortunately for all involved, final time they will face the Tannadice side this season, having become regular sparring partners over the past couple of months.

"It is a lot of games against one team," said Deila.

"But I don't think so much about that kind of thing.

"We are good at knowing what we are playing for and take whatever challenge is put in front of us.

"On Sunday we did that again, and I believe we won in a good way by playing well in the second half."

Another victory against Dundee on Friday would put the champagne on ice in case Aberdeen fail to follow Celtic's lead and win at Tannadice on Saturday.

The corks were popping before the end of March last season as the Hoops surged to what was eventually their highest points total for a decade and a 29-point winning margin over second-placed Motherwell, with the Dons having to settle for third spot.

The gap between first and second this time around is likely to be in single figures.

But it will make the fizzy stuff taste no less sweeter when it is poured and a League Cup and League Championship double celebrated in Deila's first season in charge.

He has already stated it will not be a the cue for anyone to coast to the end of the campaign.

The 94-points total still attainable is five short of the mark Neil Lennon's side hit last term.

But given where Deila's team was after the first phase of the season - only four wins from their opening eight league games - it underlines how the difficult transition has developed into a consistency which is the manager's minimum requirement.

The disappointment remains, however, that this debut season is not going to culminate in a return to Hampden on May 30 to try and secure the Treble in the cup final.

The one upside is that the ultra-short close season which his players faced has now been extended by at least one extra week, though those who represent their national teams in early June will have their break in two halves.

It is giving Deila fresh food for thought in terms of his end-of-season plans, and he revealed: "It's a possibility that we might allow some players some time off if we win the title before the end of the season.

"But, I don't like to take anything for granted before it is done."

Where Celtic will undertake their pre-season programme remains to be confirmed, though Deila is keen to stay local and avoid any tiring and time-consuming flights abroad.

"That's what we are aiming for," affirmed the manager.

"We have to arrange everything.

"The plan is still not to be going abroad, but staying here in Scotland."