MOLDE striker Ola Kamara will be forever indebted to the role Ronny Deila played in his career.

The hitman also counts Celtic midfielder and former team-mate Stefan Johansen amongst his friends.

But, that will not prevent him doing everything he possibly can to ensure there is no happy homecoming for his fellow countrymen on Thursday night.

The Norwegian international played under Deila for four seasons at Stromgodset and was part of the title winning side in 2013 alongside Johansen.

And while Kamara is relishing the chance to renew old acquaintances when Molde host Celtic in the Europa League he will certainly not be rolling out the welcome mat.

He said: “There will be extra motivation for the guys when Stefan comes.

“We don't want him to come home and do well.

“The players will be competitive and he's going to have a hard time.

“We know he is a great player so we need to try and take him out of the game. It will be the same for Nir Bitton.

“For the people of Norway this game is bigger than our first two matches with Ajax and Fenerbahce.

“In the media we always write about how Ronny and Stefan are doing in Scotland.

“Everybody is aware how well they are doing and how Celtic are doing so that's why this is such an important game.

“I will catch up with both of them them after the game and hopefully I will be the one with a smile on my face.

“Ronny is a top guy and it will be nice to see him and Stefan but I'm not thinking about that just now.

“I'm just thinking about scoring goals and beating them.”

Kamara has already managed nine in 17 games this term and was top scorer under Deila when Stromgodset caused one of the biggest shocks in Norwegian football history by claiming the title three years ago.

The Hoops boss moulded him into one of the most potent attackers in the country and helped win him big money moves to Austria Vienna and the German Bundesliga.

Kamara, currently on loan from the Austrians, said:“I spent four and a half year working under Ronny from him saving us from relegation when he took over to winning the championship.

“It was an amazing period of my career and he played a massive part in my development.

“He had such a big influence on me and winning the title was the highlight of my career.

“We were not supposed to win the league because all the other teams had more money. But we did.

“I haven't worked with any coach as good as Ronny. He is brilliant at motivating young players.”

Molde are two points clear of Celtic and Kamara is keen for them to strengthen thier position at the top of the section.

He added: “By reputation celtic are a bigger club, but this is 50-50 in this game.

“We have made a good start to the Europa League.

“We have a lot of quality in our side and you can see that when we beat Fenerbahce and drew with Ajax.

“I don't think the Scottish league is that much better than the Norwegian league.

“Yes, Celtic have a good team but they have lost quality players like Virgil van Dijk.”