SCOTLAND had its future decided this week.

Kris Commons is now also attempting to determine what lies ahead for him.

The attacking midfielder is using his agent rather than a referendum to achieve this.

But if it went to a vote of the Hoops fans and his team-mates, the chances are there would be a landslide in favour of the Scot born in Mansfield remaining here rather than disentangling himself from his union with the Parkhead club.

The latest round of talks were scheduled to take place yesterday, and Commons - now well into the final year of his contract - hopes that the long-awaited result will be posted very soon.

The player, who turned 31 three weeks ago, can strengthen his case for the deal he wants with good performances on the field. So he was delighted to be back in Ronny Deila's starting XI in Salzburg on Thursday after being left on the bench for the previous two ties against Maribor.

Commons was in danger of becoming the first high-profile casualty of the new system and style Neil Lennon's successor is trying to implement.

That would be a bitter pill to swallow for a man who was so pivotal to the team, and who banged in 32 goals last season.

However, Commons has not sulked. Rather, he has risen to the challenge of convincing Deila - and, he hopes, contract negotiator, Peter Lawwell -that he has as big a future as he has a history at this club.

Having set up Wakaso Mubarak for Celtic's opener in Austria on Thursday, just a few days after scoring what turned out to be the winner against Aberdeen, Commons is expected to be in the starting line-up for tomorrow's SPFL match at home to Motherwell.

And, after a sticky start to the season for the Hoops, he foresees much better times ahead for them, especially in the Europa League.

"With the new recruits coming in as the window was closing, we are starting to get better," said Commons.

"Wakaso played his first game for us in Austria, put in a great shift and scored a great goal.

"Aleks Tonev and Stefan Scepovic are also in now. They are just finding their feet and getting used to how we play.

"By the end of November or the start of December, we should start seeing the best of them and start taking this group by storm."

John Guidetti is another new recruit who is tipped to make Celtic better, though he must remain a spectator in Europe for group stage matches due to the delay in having his registration sanctioned by Uefa.

But Commons is confident there will be enough going on to keep the big Swedish striker fully occupied between now and then.

The current tough schedule is typical of the testing workload facing Celtic in the coming months.

Up first for them is Motherwell, who have finished second to Celtic in the title race in each of the last two seasons.

Then it's Hearts in a League Cup tie on Wednesday, with another league game away to St Mirren before they welcome Dinamo Zagreb - 5-1 winners against Astra this week - the following midweek.

COMMONS is savouring every moment and believes the squad Deila has assembled will have to be used wisely.

He said: "It's a tricky couple of weeks and bunch of fixtures coming up for us.

"But that is the kind of campaign you find you have when you are involved in European competition.

"We have got a relatively big squad here to try to chop and change the team to cope with this situation."

Deila has made it clear that, unlike many managers of clubs in other countries, he'll not consider fielding weakened starting XIs in the Europa League to try to preserve his best side for the defence of their league title or domestic cup glory.

Commons fully understands the Norwegian's reasoning and backs that plan.

The attacking midfielder insisted any other approach could have led to some mild insurrection in the Glasgow club's ranks.

Commons explained: "If the manager did say he was going to treat the Europa League lightly, I think he would have had a few arguments in the dressing room.

"This a competition which we can all believe we can do half-decent in.

"If we can put in the level of performances that we know we are more than capable of delivering then I think we can advance quite far.

"But it is European competition and it is difficult. If you are not on your A game, then you will get found out."

Commons is determined to play a leading role in this quest for Euro glory.

But wisely he's learned not to take anything for granted.

He said: "It's nice to get a start, as I did in Salzburg.

"I am not guaranteed to be in the starting XI.

"I always have to work hard, not just in games but off the park as well in training, to show the manager that I want to be the main guy and first name on the team sheet."

If his name is also on a new contract before the Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb arrive in Glasgow in a couple of weeks' time, it will be another reason for celebration among the Commons people.