Celtic boss Ronny Deila insists his side must maintain title focus

Celtic boss Ronny Deila insists it is vital his team consolidate their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership when they face Partick Thistle on Wednesday.

The Hoops currently hold a seven-point lead over Aberdeen at the top of the table with just eight games remaining.

And although Celtic have played one game fewer than the Dons, Deila is adamant his side have to press home their advantage in a bid to end the challenge of the Pittodrie club.

We’re getting closer all the time but when you get closer, the games become bigger and tomorrow night’s game against Partick Thistle is a very big game for us.

Having won all three Glasgow derbies this season, Celtic are strong favourites to make it four-in-a-row over Alan Archibald's side at Celtic Park.

"This game is important and Partick Thistle are one of the best teams just now – they’ve had a good spell with some good results so it will be a good test for us,” Deila told CelticTV.

“We’re going into a period with a lot of games, the last period before the season is finished, so we’re prepared for that and hopefully we’ll pick up a lot of points and also get to a cup final.

'Pressure'

“We’re getting closer all the time but when you get closer, the games become bigger and tomorrow night’s game against Partick Thistle is a very big game for us. If we win, it puts more pressure on Aberdeen, but if we lose, it’s open again.

“When we played them at Firhill, we played well although they still caused us some problems, so we have to be up for the game and have a very good performance if we want to get all three points.”

Thistle helped aid Celtic’s quest for a fourth successive title at the weekend when they earned a deserved point at Aberdeen, but Deila has not written off the challenge from Derek McInnes' side.

“Aberdeen are a good team and we need more points to win the league so I don’t take anything for granted,” said the Norwegian.

“Everything is possible in football. Nobody can take the points from us that we already have but we have to win more games before we’ll win the league.