THERE are many theories why Celtic's season has turned around to leave them right on course for a historic Treble.

*Players buying into Ronny Deila's game plan.

*The manager identifying what needed to be tweaked to make it suit the players.

*Individuals finding form and making a serious contribution to the progress and development of the team.

But one theory which certainly appears to hold water is that the click for the 'Tic has had a lot to do with the fact the monthly interruption for international matches was put into cold storage for the winter from mid-November.

Since August, Deila had waved goodbye to most of his first team for, on average, 10 days every four weeks.

It was a regular as it was frustrating for a new manager who needed as many days as possible with his players on the training ground at Lennoxtown to get his ideas across.

The extra strain which travelling to their countries and representing their national team in qualifiers for Euro 2016, the African Cup of Nations and the Gold Cup did nothing to help Bhoys already involved in a very heavy club campaign domestically and in Europe.

So the respite from international breaks over the past four months has been warmly welcomed by Deila.

And the correlation between the lack of national service and Celtic's improved consistency cannot be dismissed as coincidence.

Now though, the internationals are back in full swing. And, as usual, a large contingent of Hoops stars have headed off to do their duty for their country over the next seven days.

However, far from bemoaning the fact, on this occasion Deila is actually happy that club football has been put on hold.

Fresh from completing four games in 14 days against Dundee United, the Hoops boss explained: "I think it's good now to have this break because we have already played so many matches.

"We have been playing every three or four days almost every week. The boys have had a very, very good attitude and we have got good results.

"So I think it is good to get a week away from each other, and I believe we will be fresher when we come back together."

Deila continued: "There are a lot of players away with their national teams, but it is not everybody in the squad, so a number of them will get more rest.

"They will get the weekend off, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, before we come back in for training again next Monday."

Those on international duty will start to come back into the fold then, giving Deila a decent period of time to assess their condition and prepare for the Friday night league game against St Mirren which can see the Hoops stretch their lead over Aberdeen to eight points.

However, Nir Bitton and Jason Denayer will not be back training until a week tomorrow as Israel and Belgium meet in a Euro 2016 qualifier a week tonight. That same night, John Guidetti will also be away with the Swedish Under-21s, so he will also be late back to Lennoxtown.

Given how important Bitton and Denayer now are to his side, this is far from ideal for Deila, but he is philosophical about it, and said: "It's not a worry, but it could be better. The good news is it is only those two. The others will all be back in good time to prepare for the game on the Friday. Even Emilio Izaguirre will be back on Sunday after playing his games for Honduras."

It is not just the players who have missed out on being called up who will be getting a rest for a fortnight.

The pitches which have taken such a battering over the winter months will also be given time to recover.

Deila reckons this can only help his side, and cites the mini-series against United as proof that the better the surface, the better they play.

The Hoops struggled on the barren Tannadice pitch in the first of their four games, played much better on the newly-laid Hampden pitch in the League Cup final, and coasted to wins over Jackie McNamara's side when they got them to Celtic Park for the Scottish Cup replay and last weekend's Premiership match.

"To play on good pitches is important for us," confirmed Deila. "Having a good surface makes it easier for us to do what we want to to do.

"We should win every game here at Celtic Park - and it should be frightening for the opponents to come here.

"Now we are starting to get better momentum at Celtic Park, and it is tough to beat us here."

Indeed, since November, the only teams to come away with anything from Glasgow's east end have been Ross County, who held the Hoops to a goalless draw on Boxing Day, and St Johnstone, who enjoyed a rare victory at Parkhead on March 4.

That shock defeat to Saints looks even more out of kilter now, given that it sits between a 4-0 thumping of Aberdeen and the four games against United.

In fact, the 1-0 defeat spoiled a near-perfect March for the Treble-chasing Celts, and Deila acknowledges that this has been a significant month for his side.

"It has been a good period for us, and we have put ourselves in a very good position, so I am very happy with what we have done this month."

The bonus for Deila is there are no international dates next month to interrupt Celtic's charge for the Treble.

In fact, it's the end of the season before countries will come calling again.

By then, Deila hopes those called up will be reporting for duty with three winner's medals to show to their countrymen.