Ronny Deila insists he never lost faith in Stefan Scepovic even though the Celtic striker missed two great chances before scoring his first for the Hoops against Astra Giurgiu at Parkhead.

The 24-year-old Serb striker has failed to convince in six games since signing from Sporting Gijon for a reported £2.3million in the summer.

He was playing because John Guidetti again had to drop out as he was not registered in time after his loan from Manchester City.

As the Scottish champions struggled, Scepovic missed two sitters with his head early in the second half, but made amends when he headed in an Anthony Stokes free-kick in the 73rd minute.

Asked if he felt Scepovic was never going to score against Astra, Deila said: "No. That's why I kept him on the pitch. I saw the chances were coming. Stefan had two big chances before he scored but I am happy for him that he got the goal.

"I know what a goal-scorer he is and he got the goal in the end.

"He really wants to perform for this club.

"He was very tense before the game, I could see it in him, and there was a big relief, of course, when he scored the goal, and it is not the last goal we will see from him.

"We know what he has. He is always in front of goal and smelling chances. He will go on to score more goals.

"You can imagine what you feel when you score your first goal. He will become more confident as well."

Deila believes 10 points could get Celtic to the knockout stages but adds: "I am taking nothing for granted. It is a lot of hard work in Europe, with two away games to go, and there are some very even games. So we need to be at our best if we are to go through.

"We gave Astra some chances in the first half with some bad passes and some stupid mistakes. We were too slow and took too many touches on the ball."

Astra manager Oleg Protasov thought his side deserved a draw and looks to make amends in the return game. He said: "We maybe had more chances to score."