Celtic manager Ronny Deila says his side are looking to make the most of their Champions League reprieve when they face NK Maribor in the third round of qualifying for the group stages. The Glasgow side were beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Legia Warsaw but an administrative error meant the Polish club fielded an ineligible player for three minutes of the second leg tie and were thrown out of the tournament. Wins over St Johnstone and Dundee United have restored some confidence in the Celtic squad, and Deila said his players should not be worried about the trip to Slovenia for Wednesday's away leg.
He said: "We have had a longer period together now, had two difficult matches against Legia and I think we have learned something from it. This is was what I say all the time - we have to learn from our experiences. That was a tough experience but an important one and we will take those things with us into the game. The players look fitter now, and quicker and sharper in their passing and pressing, so I am sure we are going to get a much better performance than we had against Legia. After the game against Legia we were disappointed. Now we have another chance and we have to show we have learnt something from those games. If we do that we will put on a better performance."
Celtic dismissed Dundee United by a 6-1 score line in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, a performance which Deila wants to be a benchmark for the future. He said: "We know what we are capable of when we play at our best level. We played well at the weekend and it was important for the team to get a good result and performance. We have to take these things out on the pitch and I can see in training every day that things are progressing and looking much better.”