Ronny Deila: It's foolish to talk about a title race before April 1

Due to the postponement of their New Year fixture against Partick Thistle, and their imminent winter break to Gran Canaria, the Parkhead side face the rare pressure of playing catch-up domestically throughout the month of January to an efficient Aberdeen side, but the manager will only accept their hold on the championship is in serious jeopardy if the league is still anybody's once the leaves are back on the trees.

"It's a new situation, of course, but it is so early to talk about races," said Deila, ahead of tomorrow night's visit to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock. "We are halfway through the season. When we come to the beginning of April, then we can talk about a race, what's going on and the pressure that is coming up. For now, we have to just win games and focus every single day on training and every game that is coming up. We will talk again on April 1 about the standings."

A genuine title race may or may not transpire in springtime, but what is undeniably true in winter is that Virgil van Dijk's last-minute winner for a 10-man Celtic side at the start of November becomes more important with each passing week. Deila crossed the Pittodrie turf afterwards to pump his fist at the visiting support, and the league table would look even more intriguing today if you factored in a three-point swing in the Dons' favour.

"Winning at Aberdeen was so important," Deila said. "We weren't so sure we could beat them away and it's an important thing that we can. We are in four competitions, we have big goals and we just have to take one game at a time."

He may be reluctant to concede the club's assumed position at the top of the Scottish game, but Deila does regard the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle as worthy adversaries. He has whole-heartedly embraced the Scottish convention whereby opposing managers share a beverage in the office afterwards, and has been impressed by the warmth and football intelligence of the likes of Derek McInnes, Jackie McNamara and John Hughes, whose Inverness team he feels may be the most progressive of the lot.

"It is a new tradition for me and they are good, respectful colleagues," Deila said. "It is not always so easy to talk with the other manager when you have won or lost, but it has been good.

"It can be a lonely job so to sit and talk with the other manager, who is in the same situation, is positive. We didn't do that in Norway. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did it a couple of times but that was it. Things are more open here."

Celtic leave for Gran Canaria shortly after tomorrow night's match, a trip that will meetings with two fine European sides in the form of Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven and Shakhtar Donetsk, currently refugees in Lviv due to the political situation in the Ukraine.

It is a trip which could either add stress to the club's title campaign or provide added impetus for the run-in. Deila feels confident it will be the former. He hopes to make "two or three" signings, both offensive and defensive, in January but wouldn't bank on any trialists joining them in the Canary Isles.

"We have played a lot of matches so to get a week now with good training and good opponents will do us good," Deila said. "It's going to be a normal training week. Hopefully we have a nice time, but again there are important games against teams from Europe and a different way of playing. Hopefully there will be some sun, but the players know they are there to prepare for important games that are coming up."

Unlike domestic matches, where he is currently banned, one player who will be able to take part is Bulgarian winger Aleksandar Tonev. "We have to train him extra and he can also take part in the games in Gran Canaria," Deila said. "That could be good for him. His morale is very good. He was home for some days at Christmas and I think that was good for him. But he has come back fighting and he seems positive. Now we have to just take the penalty and wait until the next game."