Gordon eyes European big stages
Deila acknowledged the displays of his backline duo as he said: “The central defenders were class in this game and Boyata has settled in”.
“Hopefully, we can get into Champions League group stages and he can show himself there as well as being the level he plays at”.
It was as close as either side got in a cagey opening half, but Celtic came out with renewed goal for the second period and were well on top early on.
‘I can understand interest from England because he had a very good season last year and he will be even better this year as he’ll get a lot of matches played and more consistency.’.
And the 23-year-old made way for Tom Rogic at the Samsung Vollurinn stadium in the 4-1 win which took the Scottish champions into the third qualifier on a 6-1 aggregate where they meet Azerbaijan champions Qarabag, with the first game in Glasgow next week.
They reportedly told Stokes that he needs to “shape up” if he wants to get back into the Celtic team. We didn’t want to start the game like that and concede a goal after six minutes, it wasn’t the game plan but sometimes you need to deal with that kind of thing.
“I think Nadir played very well tonight and Leigh came on and he was involved in getting the goal, but you can see also that he wasn’t at it like he normally is because he hadn’t had enough sleep last night”.
However, this season could surpass that glory as he looks to compete in the Champions League and European Championship for the first time, with his club and country embroiled in qualifying campaigns.
“We have to try and hit the ground running“.
Celtic won the Scottish league title at a canter last season and were 17 points clear of second placed Aberdeen.
“We have speed in the team to help us counter-attack and hard-working players in midfield”.
“There is no reason why we can’t but what we do know that any time you go there you have to bet at your best”.
Yesterday, Deila explained Stokes’ absence from the 1-0 win over Qarabag saying: “Anthony was left out because we found others better, so he has to fight to get back into the team again, “.
The new, improved terms the 32-year-old agreed this week in signing up until 2018 caps the greatest goalkeeping comeback since Melchester Rovers brought Bob Wilson out of retirement in his 40s.