Celtic boss Ronny Deila says his in-form team is enjoying their football

Celtic boss Ronny Deila reckons the improvement in his team’s performances in recent months is down to satisfaction of seeing their hard work pay off.

The Hoops remain on course for the treble this season following a 4-0 victory over Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay on Wednesday.

Deila’s men picked up the first trophy of the campaign on Sunday when they beat United 2-0 at Hampden Park in the League Cup final.

And Celtic will return to the national stadium on 18 April to play Inverness Caley in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

But next up they face Jackie McNamara's men for the fourth time in 14 days, and Deila is happy his charges will go into Saturday’s Scottish Premiership match with confidence.

Enjoyment

Deila said: "We are in a very good place right now. You can see the players are happy, they love playing together.

"They see the way they train and work benefits them on the pitch, the rhythm is coming more and more.

"Players have to enjoy playing and look forward to every game, that's the way it should be.

"When you see seven or eight-year-old girls or boys playing football you can see their enjoyment and I think you see that in our squad.

"The only way players get better is when they are enjoying it.”

And while the odds are shortening on Celtic winning the treble for the first time in 14 years, Deila is taking nothing for granted with some tricky matches on the horizon.

"We're one step closer but we have to keep performing and winning games," Deila said.