Tick followed tock but the hands of the clock moved fairly slowly as Celtic eased their way to a turgid win over Ross County.

Time alone will tell if Celtic are capable of lifting performance levels to such an extent that it banishes the discord of recent weeks and buys Ronny Deila another stretch at the helm of the club.

When Leigh Griffiths capitalised on some slack defending from the Highlanders to net his 30th goal of the season just on the cusp of the half-time whistle, there were more than a few sighs of relief from the Celtic dug-out.

It did not entirely spare them a smattering of boos as an irked home support, many of whom have lost faith in the current managerial regime, made their feelings known about the laboured performance. But it most certainly granted them respite from the battering they have taken over the last two weeks.

Little wonder then that when Dedryck Boyata attacked a Stuart Armstrong cross – one of a clutch of Celtic players who have never found any fluency this season – at the back post to double Celtic’s advantage just before the hour mark that Deila bounced off his seat to pump the air with delight.

The football on offer was not the kind that would have had anyone jumping with joy, Deila included, but right now the Norwegian simply needs results.

Deila insisted that he was never biting his nails in anticipation of another fierce round of criticism as Celtic struggled for that opening goal, but it is fair to say there is a strong feeling that he may not have been able to have come out of the other end of another adverse result.

“I was not thinking that we would ever lose it because they hardly created anything,” he said. “We had our chances without ever playing fantastic football. We had four or five big chances in the first-half and then in the second-half we controlled the game well. We got three points and if we can keep doing that we are on track but nothing comes by itself.”

With Aberdeen playing tonight against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and then again at Firhill on Friday night against Partick Thistle, Celtic need to grind out the results, no matter how.

And right now it is a grind. They had most of the ball on Saturday afternoon, yet one rare Ross County forward foray had Nir Bitton hooking the ball off his own line, a moment that served to underline that absolute frailty that preserves in the Celtic backline.

There is an argument to suggest that it is fair to judge the defence when Jozo Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko are given the chance to establish some kind of partnership but the danger for Deila is that he cannot afford another stumble as he waits for the Croatian to come back to full fitness from ligament damage.

But the curiosities over some of Deila’s team selections have gone from head-scratching disquiet this season to out-right irritation.

Stefan Johansen has had a desperately poor season and has looked a shadow of the player he was last term. Deila has been publicly defensive of his fellow countryman but his determination to keep him at the heart of the Celtic midfield this season has been a source of frustration, particularly when Scott Allan has had so few chances to impress.

Johansen came in for some unsavoury stick at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon but the irony was that he had actually played not too badly at all, given the standard he has set this season overall. The Norwegian had been the architect of three decent chances in the opening 20-minutes and had a hand in the opening goal, but it is his overall shortcomings this term that have rendered him one of the whipping boys as the natives get restless.

Allan’s lack of chances is more puzzling. Deila is unconcerned about the push to get the former Hibs player into the starting XI and would only insist that he has to be able to compete with the fierce competition for places.

“Scott was in the 20-man squad but did not make the 18-man match squad,” explained Deila. “There is tough competition here. It is tough for me to pick but there are people here who have performed well also and are not in the squad – that is the reality of playing here at Celtic.”

Deila has grown weary of the posturing about Aberdeen’s league position over the last few weeks and has insisted that he will not be keeping a close eye on how the Pittodrie side fare in their outings tonight and on Friday.

“You talk about Aberdeen all the time,” he said. “Here at Celtic we don’t need to think about the others. It’s about us winning games. Whatever they do, we have to win.

“Every week we try to put in a performance and get three points. In April we can start talking about if we have a title race or not. There are too many games left and we just need to improve our performances and try to win games.”