RONNY DEILA today admitted he has no problem with Leigh Griffiths showing his displeasure at being substituted in the 1-1 draw at Inverness on Saturday.

 

The Celtic manager believes it is a perfectly understandable reaction - and insisted he would be disappointed if the striker was not annoyed about being removed from the action.

"He looked unhappy when he was substituted," said the Hoops boss, who sent on John Guidetti for the final 12 minutes as the league leaders pushed for a winning goal. "That is something I understand. He should be angry every time he is taken off."

Deila revealed he considered pairing Griffiths with Guidetti in a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to take all three points.

"We could have gone to two strikers, and I was thinking about that, but we wanted to keep our shape," he reflected. "Maybe that was wrong. Maybe we should have attacked more."

Griffiths had opened the scoring after just three minutes with a magnificent finish from a Scott Brown ball over the top of the Caley Thistle defence.

It was his first start since the league leaders won their William Hill Scottish Cup replay against Dundee United on March 18, in which he also scored.

In the three games which followed that victory, Deila has selected Guidetti to lead the line against United in the league, Anthony Stokes to be the frontman against St Mirren, and handed the responsibility to Guidetti again for last week's match against Partick Thistle.

The Hoops boss explained he is rotating the striker responsibility to ensure he keeps all his main hitmen fresh, and because he feels different games suit different players.

Deila is only too aware this can be frustrating for the individuals concerned, but he will not deviate from what he believes is best for the club in their pursuit of the Treble.

Deila explained: "We know the different qualities each of the players have, and we have to use what we think is best for the fixture we have.

"This time Leigh started, and he scored early in the game, which was good. It was a tough match for him because there was not too much support around him."

The future of Guidetti is still very much to be decided as the Swede has less than two months of his loan spell at Celtic to run, and his contract with Manchester City is about to end.

Celtic's attempts to utilise the option to buy, agreed when he moved from the Etihad Stadium at the end of last summer's transfer window, hit a wall when Guidetti decided to keep his options open.

He has never hidden his desire to return to Feyenoord - where he enjoyed an even more successful loan spell earlier in his City career - though one interview he gave to a Dutch TV company has landed him on a charge with the SFA for making derogatory remarks about Rangers.

Guidetti is fighting the case, and the hearing is set for the end of this month.

Though his early strike rate has fallen dramatically, Deila still rates Guidetti highly. But, the Hoops boss is not putting all his eggs in the one basket and is looking for other strikers.

Ross McCormack is the latest name linked, but Deila denied the Scot - who moved to Fulham last year in a deal worth £11million - is on the list.