Celtic vs Ajax - Deila upbeat despite midfield absentees for Celtic's crunch tie

Posted Thursday, November 26, 2015 by PA

Ronny Deila insists a decimated midfield has not left him fearful ahead of Celtic's crunch Europa League clash with Ajax at Parkhead.

At the pre-match press conference at Celtic Park, the Hoops boss revealed that skipper Scott Brown could be out for up to three months with a knee injury picked up against Kilmarnock at the weekend.

The Scotland captain, who had a scan on Monday, was back against Killie after missing four matches with a knee injury, but Deila confirmed he has suffered a different complaint ahead of Thursday's match.

Kris Commons is still likely to be out with a combination of illness and a hamstring injury, while fellow midfielders Nir Bitton and Stefan Johansen are suspended for a match when defeat will end any hope of progressing from Group A.

One piece of good news for the Scottish champions is that Charlie Mulgrew, who can play midfield or defence, is back in contention after recovering from a thigh injury, but he has not played since September.

"Scott Brown is out for a while," Deila said. "We don't know for sure yet but I heard it's eight to 12 weeks.

"It is nothing to do with the previous one. It was very unfortunate in a challenge near the end of the game.

"We hope that (an operation) is not necessary. We are waiting for the experts to look at the pictures so we can be even more sure what to do, if it is going to be an operation or not.

"It is always tough to lose your captain but, having said that, in the last period he was out we won a lot of games.

"Kris has been a little bit sick but he had the injury after the Molde game. It is likely it will be a little too early. He trained today but was not feeling at his best.

"I am not fearing anything but of course there is going to be big changes in the midfield.

"We have to put together a new one but we have a lot of good players and we are going to have a good team.

"Of course it is more tricky, a lot of the experience is out but again we have players who can fill those roles."

After back-to-back defeats at the hands of surprise package Molde, Celtic sit bottom of Group A with two points from four matches, while opponents Ajax are one point ahead.

Norwegian outfit Molde have qualified with 10 points and play Turkish giants Fenerbahce, who are second with five points.

While a draw at Celtic Park would not necessarily put either side out - unless Fenerbahce beat Molde - Ajax boss Frank de Boer is going for the victory which would give his side a better chance of reaching the knockout stages.

"Both teams have to win, we will not have the door open for them but we will be attacking because we need to win," the former Rangers and Holland defender said.

"We are not crazy of course, we have respect for Celtic.

"We have to play very compact, that is the most important thing, and play with confidence.

"If you analyse the last Ajax versus Celtic game (in September) we started quite nervous and were behind twice and finally got a 2-2 draw which I think was a good result as they had some good chances to win that game.

"So hopefully the players have the confidence that they can beat Celtic."

The Dutch side arrived in Glasgow without midfielders Riechedly Bazoer, Daley Sinkgraven, Thulani Serero and forward Anwar El Ghazi.