RONNY DEILA has revealed his belief that Kris Commons can recover from his hamstring injury in time to face Inter Milan is growing by the day.

 

The Celtic boss watched him limp out of Saturday's Scottish Cup win over Dundee, and it looked like the attacking midfielder would be pushed even to make the second leg in Milan in a fortnight.

But Deila gave an update on his recovery and reported: "Commons can make it for the Inter Milan game nest week."

Leigh Griffiths and Mikael Lustig were also absentees last night as Celtic crushed Partick Thistle 3-0 to go three points clear at the top of the table.

The striker twisted an ankle in training on Tuesday, but is expected to be fit to play against St Johnstone on Saturday.

Lustig, however, will definitely miss both Inter matches with the ankle damage he sustained at Dundee at the weekend.

The disappointed manager said: "It will be some time with Lustig, I hope just two or three weeks."

The good news is that the competition for places in Deila's side is fiercer than ever with the arrival of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven.

Both Bhoys made their debuts last night, and both marked the occasion with goals - Mackay-Steven after just 37 seconds.

Stefan Johansen banged home a third to make it seven straight wins for the Treble-chasing Parkhead outfit.

It's a run of form - without so much as conceding a single goal - which has fired them into the League Cup final, the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup and clear at the top of the SPFL.

The manager is convinced his group has now found the missing ingredient which can transform them into the side he wants: Consistency.

A win at Perth on Saturday will stretch their lead in the title race to six points before Aberdeen play the next day.

And the Hoops boss said: "We want to put pressure on them.

"But, we don't want to think too much about Aberdeen.

"We just have to focus on ourselves, and what we are doing.

"We have to think about how we are performing. That is what is important."

Deila is confident this is a standard which can be maintained and added: "We have good consistency in our performances now.

"If we keep on like this, it is going to be very hard to beat us.

"But I can still see a lot of improvement. The boys are enjoying playing together and they are forming more and more relationships on the pitch.

"It is going to be an exciting end to the season.

"We certainly have a lot to play for, and now I believe we are ready for that.

"I feel comfortable sitting on the bench now compared to how I was four months ago."