RONNY DEILA last night admitted Celtic need to add two quality players before next season’s European campaign - or they will suffer more European heartache.

But the Parkhead boss knows that no matter who he targets, the club will not go outside their budget, despite going out of the Europa League last night with a game to go, following the 2-1 defeat to Ajax in Glasgow, and having not won a single group match.

Deila is under pressure, but so too are the board whose self-imposed financial restrictions, while understandable, have long been a frustration to the supporters.

It is obvious that even if every player was fit, Celtic are lacking in almost every area of the team and if the club are to compete once again, even in the Europa League, then money has to be spent next summer or they could face years in the wilderness.

Speaking to the Evening Times, Deila said: “Are we short? It’s not a case of being short, it is not about more players, it’s about getting in quality and that’s what we need now, maybe two players with real quality who can lift the team a lot.

“I have spoken about that (with the board). Everyone has the same opinion.

“But we have to do it within our budget and that’s very important because we want to have a club who can be strong for many seasons. It is difficult, but it’s possible.

“The problem is always the transfer fees. So we have to stay strong and develop the players we have here.

"But we want to add players who can come in to the club and make us ready for the Champions League next year and also it is important to win everything there is in Scotland.”

Mistakes by Callum McGregor, who scored Celtic’s goal and then Scott Allan late on led to both Ajax goals and denied their team a point which was the least they deserved – although it would not have saved them from going out.

Deila was quick to support his two young players and made the point, which backed up his claim about adding quality, that it is unfair to ask such inexperienced players to handle a team such as Ajax.

Deila said: “These are thing we are going to learn about. I think both Callum and Scott were positives in the game.

"If you look at the 90 minutes, Callum was good and while he did make a mistake, we still had eight or nine players behind the ball.

“Scott was also good when he came on, but then he made a really simple mistake from a counter-attack. They then score from another counter-attack and that is something we have to get better at.

“But if you bring in players who have played in the Championship or a little bit in the Scottish Premiership, you can’t even think that they can immediately make a step-up to this level. They can’t do it on an international stage at once.

“But, again, if you look at their first goal, we have a lot of players behind the ball and still Ajax scored.

"Those other players have to share the blame with Callum, who scored a great goal and was excellent, in my opinion.”

Charlie Mulgrew came on as a substitute and didn’t even last to the end as he limped off with an injury and he is almost certain to miss Sunday’s Premiership match in Inverness.