RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, insisted his side would have taken all three points from Ajax in the Amsterdam Arena had it not been for Emilio Izaguirre's late red card.

The Scottish champions were 2-1 ahead when they were reduced to ten men on 73 minutes and the Dutch side's second equaliser of the game came from a free kick with four minutes remaining. However, it was a good performance from Celtic and while the result felt like an opportunity missed, this was an encouraging start to their Europea League campaign.

Celtic's goals were scored by Nir Bitton and Mikael Lustig and it was a far better all-round display by Deila's side. The hard work was undone by Izaguirre's dismissal for a foul, not his first, on Anwar El Ghazi while on a yellow card.

Deila refused to blame his left-back who he would have substituted before the red card if he had been able to, although the Honduran's inability to maintain his discipline did deprive his side a win.

"When it was 11 v 11 we had very good control of game," said Deila. "We played well, we created chances and we defended as a team. We had a great attitude and I’m very, very proud of the boys.

“But when we went down to 10 men they got more crosses into box and we had to deal with it. So in the end, if you see the whole game, a draw is okay. It is a very important point away from home.

"Of course the sending-off was the turning point in the game. We had very good control of the game at that stage. It was very difficult (to take off Izaguirre). He had very good control of El Ghazi - in the first half, he didn’t do anything.

“But he got caught on the wrong side one time before it. It is a very difficult decision to take him off because we get cramps and some other players haven’t played so much, so we had to make other changes.

"I don’t think he touched him so much. He did very well in 95 per cent of the chances he had against him. The first yellow card I could not understand, but that happens.

Emilio has no record of a lot of red cards. I personally think he played very well up to that red card. He took out their best player for most of the game. He just has to move on. We do it together as a team and today we took something from the game.”

Deila's overall feeling was that his team did themselves proud and the fact there was disappointment after such a good result said much about the much-improved performance.

"Everybody knows we can play good football but today we needed a performance and some confidence through the performance," the Norwegian said. "If you can back that up with points it is much easier. We got a point, we could have got three, it gives us a lot of energy.

"I’m quite sure we would have won the game without the red card. We were very comfortable and could also have made better changes.

"The players have shown great attitude and that they take this competition seriously. They have shown we can bounce back. Now we have to get ready for Sunday to start winning again in the league."

Ajax's second goal was a free-kick from Lasse Schone which travelled 40 yards through the Celtic defence and Craig Gordon on his line, It was another mistake at a set-piece, something that has become a problem this season.

"It went through every player, they were too tight and it was a very good delivery," said Celtic's manager. "That was a difficult thing to do something with. We still have to work on that but it is going the right way."

Kris Commons was back in the side and he had a hand in both goals. There will be renewed clamour for him to get a run in the side having been used sparingly so far.

"Kris brings assists and he creates things," said the Celtic manager. "He is a very good player. He has been very unlucky this year, being out for six weeks with a toe injury, so he hasn’t started so many games.

“I wanted to get an experienced team out tonight. I was happy with James Forrest and Kris. They have quality and it is going to be important for us."

Frank de Boer, the Ajax manager believed Izaguirre should have gone before he did and was less than complimentary about how Celtic played.

"If you want to finish first or second in the group you need to win your home games," he said. "The fact we didn't do that is obviously disappointing. It's two points lost, that's for sure.

"After they scored the opening goal they parked two buses.But I am satisfied how we did when they went down to ten men."