Ronny Deila admitted some surprise when a turbulent month culminated with a Ladbrokes Manager of the Month award for October.

“Embarrassed” was the word the personable Norwegian used, a nod to the turbulence which has greeted the disquiet around Celtic’s European performances.

There was, however, nothing much to raise an eyebrow about as Leigh Griffiths added a gong to his personal collection with the Scottish Premiership October Player of the Month award. The striker celebrated with a double against Ross County, but it is the kind of double that has his manager patting him on the back rather than sighing in disappointment.

Deila has attributed the form of the striker – who has so far netted 18 goals in all competition and 13 in the league this season to date – as the result of the lifestyle changes he has adopted off the pitch.

It has been a much quieter Griffiths of late and Deila believes that the player’s growing maturity can be measured by his consistency on the pitch.

“Leigh has become one the guys who loves to train and I can’t be any more impressed with him this season,” said Deila.

“He has showed great desire both on and off the pitch, he is doing all the right things and he is getting the rewards for it. He has taken a lot of things on board and you can see the results – he is getting better and stronger all the time. He is pleased with himself and we are pleased with him.

“But I still think he can get even better. We can see and he can see the way he is moving forward and becoming a better footballer.

“He has answered all the questions that we have asked for him. You have to applaud him for that because his attitude has been sensational. It is up to him now to decide how good he can be.”

There are four Celtic players off on international duty but the remainder who remain will be given some time off to prepare for the next round of matches that will be significant in determining how Celtic’s season is perceived.

Domestic life remains comfortable for Deila’s men but the challenge of how to transfer that form into the Europa League has been a test too far this season.

The penultimate games in Group A against Ajax at Celtic Park and Fenerbahce in Istanbul is the only real stage where Celtic can to quell their dissenters. But having won just 2 out of their last 12 Europa League games, it will need to be a massive turn-around to get the requisite six points that would salvage their European season.

“It is so different going from the SPFL to Europe,” said Deila. You can see that we get punished for things in Europe that we don’t here but that is not a criticism of anyone. Also, it is something that is not all that unusual – for teams in Norway and Sweden it is the same so it is something that we have to work on. We know that.

“There has been too big a gap between our form in the league and the form in Europe. The only positive we have been able to take is the way we have created things in Europe, which is not an easy thing to do.

“Our goals have been cheap, too many of them, that we have given away. We have not made teams work for them. It has been sloppy and you will not win games in Europe playing like that. “We need to improve individually. We score goals and we create chances in this game. So it's marginal. “

It has been a difficult month for the Celtic manager who has come under scrutiny in a way he has not been since his arrival at the club.

The back-to-back defeat against Molde seemed to snap the patience of some supporters who have grown frustration at the lack of progress in the side and the continued defensive mistakes that have proved to be so damaging to the club.

Yet, Deila has maintained that he can get it right at Celtic and has insisted that he has developed a thick skin in response to his critics.

“I have had dark days before in my career,” he said. “It is difficult. I can understand why people are frustrated but we believe in what we are doing and that is the most important thing. When you feel a lot of criticism it is important to stay close with the people that you are working with every day and make sure that you stay focussed.”

The international break will give Deila himself the chance of a breather but any respite is liable to be short-lived if the same mistakes are revisited later this month against Ajax.