RONNY DEILA has revealed that days off have turned his players on in Celtic’s recent run of success.The Hoops have averaged five goals a game, including the remarkable 8-1 victory over Hamilton Accies at Parkhead.
Now Deila is hoping his players keep the run going against Ross County in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday.
He said: “Rest is very important, but that’s how it has always been here at Celtic when you play so many games.
“It’s always tough and you play almost 50 per cent more than the other teams, so you go into games where you’re not 100 per cent rested.”That’s why we need a big squad and why we change the team, but we also started our season on June 22 and some of the boys didn’t have more than two weeks off.
“So to get some days off and rest is important and then you see a much sharper team than you saw maybe at the end of December.“The goal is to step up. You have to develop yourself during the season and you need to get better. If you do that you have a chance to fight for trophies.”
Celtic have a chance to take a step closer to the domestic treble when they take on Jim McIntyre’s side at the national stadium, but the Hoops boss said his players won’t need any extra motivation going into the game.
The Norwegian added: “This season we have won a lot domestically and we just keep on. You need a lot of victories if you’re going to win the league and get trophies.
“It’s nothing different this year, but now we’re happy that we’ve scored a lot of goals. Fifteen goals in three games is very good and that gives a lot of confidence in the team.
“I haven’t mentioned the treble and I didn’t do it last year either. We talk about the next game and everyone knows it’s hard to win everything, but we’ve got targets and we want to do it.
“We saw last year it’s small details that can ruin it so that’s why there are so few that have done it.”
