Celtic boss Ronny Deila will resist changes
Saturday 4 October 2014 15:02, UK
Celtic manager Ronny Deila has vowed not to make wholesale changes to his side for the visit of Hamilton on Sunday.
The Hoops defeated Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 at Celtic Park in midweek to go top of Europa League Group D.
After their previous match in the competition – a 2-2 draw away to Salzburg – Deila opted to ring the changes for the Scottish Premiership game.
But after seeing his much-changed side struggle before coming from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Motherwell following their trip to Austria, Deila is keen to make minimal changes this time round.
"You learn from every game. We learned that too many changes can cause problems,” he said.
“We made some changes at the break (against Motherwell) and played much better in the second half - that was a good learning experience.
"It's very important now that we get players who get a relationship together. But when you play so many matches, there are things happening all the time. It's hard.
"We have a good squad but I think in one year you will not think about who is playing or not - then everybody hopefully knows the pattern of how we want to play and the player we use is not so important.
"But now it's important to get an 11 that know each other. We are on a good roll now, six games without loss. We will try to keep that as long as possible, hopefully during the whole season.
"I see signs in my team that excite me, the pressing, the full-backs coming forward, and creating things on the sides. We just need to do it for longer periods and Sunday is another opportunity to create more and improve."
As for Hamilton, Deila is determined not to underestimate a side that has settled well on their return to the top-flight, with their 4-0 win away to local rivals Motherwell last weekend extending their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions.
"They have come up and have done very well. They love to fight for each other and they also like to play and want to play,” Deila added.
“That energy and confidence, they have brought that with them to the top division, so we need to be on the top with our attitude and intensity and also get tempo in everything we do."
