Scottish Premiership: Ronny Deila backs Celtic's summer transfer policy

Celtic manager Ronny Deila has defended the loan policy initially employed when he arrived at the club and has assured fans ‘the right choices in January’ will improve their fortunes on the pitch.

Deila has endured an inconsistent start to life at Celtic Park, with the club failing to reach the group stage of the Champions League and currently languishing in sixth position in the Scottish Premiership, six points adrift of leaders Hamilton.

The latest setback came before the international break when the Accies clinched all three points at Parkhead, confirming this season as the Hoops’ worst start to a campaign since 1998/99.

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But Deila refused to attribute their recent form to a lack of permanent summer arrivals and backed the club to bounce back from their defeat last time out.

“I think we did the right thing in this window to go for more loans,” he told Sky Sports News HQ.

“I came in new to the job with very little time to assess and know what I really wanted and needed in the team, and also to see players because it was out of season.

"So now we’re going to use the month of January to go out and watch players and use every person in the staff to make the right choices in January.

“We want to progress and make the team and the squad stronger and that’s the club and me agreeing. In the league we are behind schedule. We need to get points in so we can go top of the table, points in the league will be very important and of course we want to win more games.  

“The last game was a hard setback for us, we were on a good roll, so now we have to get back again and bounce back on Saturday.”

Looking ahead to Saturday's clash with Ross County, Deila dismissed suggestions that it was "must-win game" and insisted it was "too early" to be concerned about Celtic's sixth-place league position. However he admitted his side were in for a tough test when they visit Victoria Park.

"It's never a must-win game. It's not the cup, it's the league and there are many, many games but we want to win," he added.

“It’s going to be a tough game. When you go away in the Highlands they have a lot of energy and they have had two good games now and played well and been well organised.

“But again it’s about our performance. We have to try to create as much and possible and defend very well, win the challenges first and get the tempo up in the game so we can open Ross County and win it.”

Watch Celtic travel to Ross County live this Saturday lunchtime. Coverage starts at 12.30pm on Sky Sports 3 HD.