Celtic boss Ronny Deila is keen for referees to explain decisions

Celtic manager Ronny Deila was upset by the officials' failure to penalise Inverness defender Josh Meekings for a hand-ball incident in the Scottish Cup final on Sunday

Celtic manager Ronny Deila believes referees should be allowed to explain their decisions after matches to foster greater transparency in the game.

The Norwegian was "so disappointed" that referee Steven McLean had missed Josh Meekings' hand ball incident in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

But he said: "I don't have any problems with the Scottish refs. They are good.

"To be open and honest is important and then we can stop talking about (incidents) for weeks."

Deila pointed out that in his homeland the referees are able to speak to the media.

"They can say 'sorry I missed it' and just be humble. It's much better to answer," said the manager, who maintained he was keen to move on from the incident where defender Meekings prevented an apparently goalbound header by Leigh Griffiths from crossing the goal-line.

The match officials did not punish the player at the time in Inverness Caledonian Thistle's 3-2 victory over Deila's treble-chasing team, and a controversial retrospective "offer" of a one-match ban was successfully contested by Meekings on Thursday when an independent judicial panel decided it was not entitled to consider the matter further.

Deila continued: "Afterwards, you get so disappointed. You will never get it back. That's how it is.

"This incident was so crucial, it was so clear, but everybody can make mistakes.

"When we do bad performances the players are out of the team, they get criticised in newspapers; the same with the refs - when you make bad performances there has to be consequences."

"If I were the referee after that match and he knows what has happened, I'd say, 'I didn't see it, I'm very, very sorry. I should have done it better'.

"Then what could anybody say? Just be honest.

"Sometimes you are lucky. Over a big season you get things for you and against you in the league. But the Cup was such a vital game for us. That's why the disappointment was so big.

"We thought we had the game in our hands and it slipped away."

Deila emphasised that his players had shown good spirit to recover from the Cup disappointment to continue their assault on the Scottish Premiership title with a 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park.

He said: "The players were fantastic on Wednesday. The most important thing is to fight for the league title now."