Ronny Deila happy to put his faith in Celtic's bravehearts

The Hoops boss started Thursday's Europa League against Inter Milan with five homegrown stars.

Craig Gordon, Gary Mackay-Steven, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong and Leith Griffiths formed the spine of Deila's team in the dramatic 3-3 draw,

And while the Hoops boss has admitted that when he took over the job at Celtic he did not intentionally set out to give the side a strong Scottish spine, he has come to believe in its importance, not least because of the inflated rates for players south of the border.

"I didn't think so much about these things but I think that's important, especially now when you see how crazy the money is in football," explained Deila.

"It's easier to get players in this country instead of going more south where it is almost impossible.

"When you go more south it is harder to get them into the systems. It's a totally different language and culture and things. It could be harder.

"We want to have the best players in Scotland at Celtic."

Having gone 2-0 down in opening 14 minutes of Thursday's game against the Serie A side, it was encouraging for Deila that his side found the spirit and heart to fight their way back into it.

The 3-3 draw gives them a flicker of a heartbeat for the return leg this week in the San Siro but had this game been one of the early ones of Deila's Celtic career, the money would have been on the players folding.

The obvious progress is something that satisfies him, as is the manner in which he believes his team's fitness shows in a game that is played at such a high tempo.

"Physically, they were getting cramps and we were still keeping on going at them," he said.

" And we got the goal in the end. That's what I want to see in the league as well.

" If we are 2-0 up, I want them to continue and push on and try to kill teams. That's a mentality we have to get in.

"We showed yesterday that we can do it when we need to do it. I think we should that every time, whatever the result is. "