ANTHONY STOKES will miss two crunch games after being red-carded in the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay win over Dundee United.

The Celtic striker - who was dismissed late on in the match for violent conduct - will sit out tomorrow's Premiership visit of the Tannadice side AND the cup semi-final against Inverness Caley at Hampden next month.

As the Hoops march on in their bid for a Treble, the news will be a disappointment for manager Ronny Deila, who credited Stokes with playing the best game under him in the League Cup final victory over Jackie McNamara's side at Hampden last Sunday.

United have appealed the red card shown to Ryan McGowan on Wednesday night, meaning he will be free to face the Hoops again tomorrow.

But Deila believes both dismissals were warranted. He said: "I have seen the incidents again and I think it is okay. I think both are potentially red cards. Stokes gets hit when he's running and started to bleed in his mouth.

"He reacted, which he shouldn't do. The other red card is clear in my mind. The referee did a good job.

"I don't think United were over-physical, but at the end they lost their temper, especially the full-back who got a red card. You saw that he was a danger on the pitch.

"He was angry and, in the end, he found someone to hit and managed to do that. I'm happy that Liam didn't get injured.

"Stokesy shouldn't react like he did, it's not an excuse that you got hit and you are hitting back. So we talked about that. But every player makes mistakes at times and gets a penalty for that."

Meanwhile, Deila believes the Hoops should be applauded for maintaining a consistently high level of discipline - despite events of the last few weeks.

Parkhead captain Scott Brown was pictured slumped on a pavement after a drinking session in Edinburgh last week - just days before the League Cup final - while James Forrest and John Guidetti had a very public spat at Hampden over penalty duties.

Deila, though, has maintained the constant microscope on his players shows that, for the majority, the high standards he is demanding at the club are met.

"We don't have many instances, but we play so many matches that of course we will have some things," he said.

"We are under pressure 24 hours, we don't have one minute off. If we go out the door we know that the media are there, and supporters, and I think it is good that there are not more instances."

Meanwhile, Deila also believes Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong will be ready to continue where they left off after being cup-tied for the last three games.

The duo missed out on both Scottish Cup quarter-final ties against their former side as well as the League Cup final and the Celtic manager believes the rest will have energised them for the remainder of the campaign.

Both are liable to be back in for the start against United as Celtic return to league duty tomorrow.

"It has been difficult for them, but I think they also needed a little break," he said. "They have played big matches after arriving at Celtic. They were able to get away from it and now they are full of energy and we will use them in the rest of the season."