ROLL up! Roll up! The circus is back in town. If Ronny Deila has felt like a man under pressure during these last few weeks, then it is nothing compared to the scrutiny that lies ahead between now and mid-April.

The William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final will see a Hampden date with Rangers and, regardless of whatever is spouted about form books and windows, the fact of the matter tends to be that the team with the momentum is the team which comes out on top.

Deila admitted this weekend that he spent much of the early hours of Thursday morning staring at his bedroom ceiling as he sought to find the answers to ills that haunted Celtic during their draws with Hamilton Accies and Dundee last week.

One of the criticisms that has been levelled at the Norwegian is that his side struggle when they can least afford to do so.

Over the next six weeks, Deila needs to reverse the malaise that has affected Celtic since the end of January and get them back to playing a far more

vibrant and energetic brand of football than his men have

produced for much of the season.

If he succeeds in doing that, it could well go some way to saving his job.

Celtic will go into the game with all the pressure on their shoulders; they will be expected to come out on top against Mark Warburton’s side and do so relatively comfortably.

Between now and that meeting at Hampden, Deila must decide on his best starting XI.

He had some food for thought yesterday as Celtic comfortably saw off Morton 3-0, with young winger Patrick Roberts making his mark in a cameo from the bench while Kieran Tierney again excelled.

Leigh Griffiths’ opening goal after just 14 minutes relieved any tension from a sparse Parkhead crowd. Nerves will be far more in evidence, and far less easily dispelled, when the Old Firm clash at Hampden in the middle of next month.

On the evidence of recent weeks, Celtic might not fancy their chances were the game to be played this weekend.

But when consideration is given to both squads then it is Celtic who are by far the stronger on paper.

Their challenge now is to live up to that billing.When the teams met at Hampden last year on League Cup duty it was a relatively one-sided affair as Celtic coasted the game but it is expected to be a different proposition this term.

Time will tell what the chasm between the teams is. Certainly, though, it is a game that is unlikely to be quite so straightforward as yesterday’s meeting.

Jim Duffy’s men had one decent effort well saved by Craig Gordon and another attempt in the latter stages but by and large this was a prosaic amble through 90 minutes for Celtic, much to the relief of Deila.

The three first-half goals meant that the game itself was a non-contest with Griffiths, Gary Mackay-Steven and Callum McGregor making sure that there were no further slips as Celtic headed towards Hampden.

Griffiths’ goal, his 34th this season, punctured any lingering tension that had surrounded the tie. Mackay-Steven followed the striker’s lead by adding another before McGregor got the best of the three with an

exquisite strike.

It meant the second period was a non-event but that in itself will not be a particular source of consternation for Celtic who will be content to simply get through what was a potentially fatal tie.

The one blip was the injury to Stefan Johansen on the cusp of the interval. The midfielder was re-introduced to the Celtic fray after being taken out of the firing line by Deila last week.

Caught by a late challenge from Michael Miller – who came through the ranks at Celtic – Johansen was left upended on the turf as his colleagues headed into the dressing room.

“It was a hard knock on his ankle,” said Deila. “Hopefully it’s not a big injury and he didn’t twist anything. The challenge looked like it was a stretched leg, straight into his ankle. It was not good to see.”

There were not too many in the ground to see it – just under 15,000 were in attendance as Celtic clocked up one of their lowest attendances in recent years – but for Deila the chance to get back on track after the recent furore over draws against Hamilton Accies and Dundee was welcome respite.

“It’s hard to say how much I needed that victory,” he said. “You also need to ask how much I needed a semi-final. Of course I want to win the trophy and we now have two more games to hopefully lift it.

“I get asked every week if I feel under more pressure. I didn’t feel that today.I’ve been in this game a long time and when everything is crazy around you, you have to stay calm.

“I know the players are winners. They hate losing and performing badly. They wanted to show another side today.”