RONNY DEILA has put his faith in Celtic star Callum McGregor to enjoy a sweet 16th against Dinamo Zagreb.

The 21-year-old midfielder has played a part in every single game for the SPFL Premiership champions across four competitions this season, despite his manager frequently tinkering with his team.

That impressive run of appearances includes 14 starts and one substitute appearance, with the young Scot racking up more than 21 hours of first-team football since the campaign kicked off mid July.

Thursday's Europa League tie at Parkhead against Zagreb will be his 16th game for Celtic this season - and his fifth in two weeks.

But the Celtic manager has no fears over McGregor not being 100% ready, both mentally and physically, for the crunch match.

He said: "Callum is important for Thursday, yes. To play at Celtic you have to be mentally strong, and he has that.

"He is a fantastic football player who I love working with. He's played well and now he has some days to recover for the game against Zagreb.

"Young players come in and do well, then the expectation arrives and sometimes it drops a little bit. But he has to work himself out of it and get up again.

McGregor's latest game came in Paisley on Saturday when the Hoops ground out a 2-1 win against a resiliant and tenacious St Mirren.

The Celtic manager has now given his players a couple of days of recuperation after a hectic recent schedule that saw them play three games in six days.

But he is content that McGregor and the rest of his players will be ready for the challenge they face when the Croatians come to Celtic Park.

He told Celtic TV: "We've played three matches now in six days and it's been tough for all the players when we've changed so much, but I'm happy now that we have got through the games and got the points.

"It makes us ready for the game on Thursday. We need to have a couple of days' rest, and then we're going to prepare well for this next game."

Meanwhile, the SFA has postponed a hearing into allegations of racist abuse levelled at Hoops winger Aleksandar Tonev until October 30.

Aberdeen full-back Shay Logan accused the on-loan Aston Villa player of a racial slur during his team's 2-1 defeat at Celtic Park on September 13.

The Bulgarian has been called up to for international duty ahead of this month's Euro 2016 qualifiers with Croatia and Norway.

But Tonev was due to appear before an SFA disciplinary panel on October 9 - the day before Bulgaria's meeting with Croatia - so Hampden chiefs have now rescheduled his hearing until the end of the month.