NO sooner had Stefan Johansen finished admonishing himself for playing through the pain barrier than he was planning to inflict some agony on his countrymen. The 24-year-old, voted player of the year in Norway and Scotland in short order during the last two seasons, has been a pale imitation of his former self this campaign, something he attributes in part to his own pig-headedness for ignoring a back complaint even though it had clearly affected his performances. There was a form of catharsis for the Celtic midfielder to get all this out in the open ahead of his homecoming in the crunch Europa League meeting with Molde at the Aker Stadium, opponents against whom he clearly plans to take out a frustration or two.

“My form hasn’t been as good as it was last season," said Johansen. "I am honest about that. I haven’t been at my top level and that’s where I want to be. I have been a little bit stupid as well because I felt my back sometimes and I still played. I can’t do that. I need to be 100% when I play, otherwise I am not at the level I want to be. Finally now, though, I feel fit again and I want to turn things around and get to the level I was at least year."

Johansen's all-energy running style has been a fixture of Deila's team since the Norwegian arrived but in recent times all of those tireless yards have been to his detriment. While the 24-year-old is likely to feature against his old nemeses Molde, in what would be his first appearance for his club since the 2-2 Europa League draw with Fenerbahce on October 1, the form of Kris Commons means he is no longer the automatic first pick he once was. “I am the type of person who always wants to play," said Johansen. "But then it got into my hamstrings and I found out the problem. It got worse over time. I didn’t say too much but now I am getting treatment every day. I have rested in a few games, and it feels 100% again. I am feeling good."

If the homecomings of Johansen, Deila and Mikael Lustig - who had a few successful seasons at Rosenborg - all became something of a sideshow to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's main event on Wednesday, the midfielder is in bullish mood ahead of the visit to the Aker Stadium. There is a danger of doing too much talking before a match, but Johansen is happy to ratchet up the pressure: not only is he adamant that Celtic are the better team, he feels the Ladbrokes Premiership is better than the Norwegian Tippeligaen and the Parkhead side are more than capable of taking all six points against Molde. While the Norwegians currently lead Group A, two Celtic victories would give them a stranglehold over qualification.

“Ole won the league here the last time and built a really good team," said Johansen, who will lock horns with international team pals Vegard Forren and Martin Linnes, not to mention former Stromsgodset striker Ola Kamara. "He will do well now he is back here. But I am very surprised at how Molde has done so far, I have to be honest about that. They haven’t done well in the league, apart from the last couple of weeks. Beating Fenerbahce away is very strong form, but it is time for them to lose two games. We need to go and beat Molde. Then we have them at home and we want six points from these games. It’s possible."

Cutting out the mistakes, particularly defensively, which have seen Celtic squander leading positions against Malmo, Ajax and Fenerbahce this season will be at a premium against a side who may be happy to play on the counter. “I agree we have made some mistakes," said Johansen. "In European games, you can’t do this against these kind of teams or you do get punished. Good teams just wait for a single mistake, sometimes not even a personal mistake, but a team mistake. So we just need to be focused. We’ll have a lot of the ball and they will try to counter attack, so we have to concentrate."