Celtic: Ronny Deila delighted as clinical Celtic rout County

Manager Ronny Deila believes Celtic's 5-0 hammering of Ross County shows his ideas are being taken on board.

Deila's side, who lost 1-0 to Hamilton in their previous outing, dismantled the Staggies with a clinical display.

"I believe in myself and the ideas I have and I know it's going to work," the Norwegian told BBC Scotland.

"We have to get everyone going in the right direction and it's getting better and better with every game we play, this game is a step forward."

Anthony Stokes netted a double in Dingwall, with John Guidetti, Callum McGregor and Jason Denayer also on target as the champions produced a slick performance against the league's bottom club.

Four of the goals came in the first half and Deila was delighted with the display as his side closed the gap on league leaders Hamilton to six points.

"I'm very happy, especially with the first half," said Deila.

"The boys were fantastic in the first 45 minutes, they just went out there and owned the game.

"We created chances all the time, worked hard and had good quick reactions to win the ball back. There were a lot of good things in this match.

On-loan Manchester City defender Jason Denayer scored the fourth goal for Celtic in Dingwall

"Against Hamilton we had 12 chances and didn't score one but today we maybe had 10 chances. We are on the right track and defensively we keep a clean sheet, which is very good.

"It's all about preparation, being 100% in shape in everything you do. Today we were up for the game and had fantastic fans behind us, when it is like that it is hard to beat Celtic."

Deila, who revealed he does not expect Emilio Izaguirre to be out for long after being carried off in the second half, is looking forward to the Europa League meeting with Romanian outfit Astra on Thursday.

"If we win that it will be a good position in the table," Deila added.

Right back Mikael Lustig returned to the Celtic side after missing eight games through injury and he was delighted with the performance in the Highlands.

"We've been struggling to score goals this season but the first half was probably the best [we've played] this season," the Swede said.

"Goals change games and it was important we got the first goal, after that we played really well. Everyone worked hard and it paid off."