RONNY Deila will leave it up to Jozo Simunovic to decide whether he is fit to play through the pain barrier against Molde tonight but insists Celtic can cope without him in any case. The 21-year-old Croatian defender is rated no better than 50/50 to shrug off the ankle knock which afflicted him against Aberdeen on Saturday, meaning that Deila may have to stick with the central pairing of Efe Ambrose and Dedryck Boyata which has shipped five goals in the club's last two Europa League matches. The two men have made costly mistakes in the games against Fenerbahce and Molde but Deila insists he isn't prepared to push Simunovic back early if the player himelf doesn't feel ready to play.
"I think he is 50/50" said Deila. "It’s a tough knock he had from Sunday. It’s a pain thing. He is desperate to play. He almost wants to take injections to play. I assure you we push every player to the limit and the players really, really want to play but it is about doing the right thing for the right players. You can tell me Broony [captain Scott Brown] is an unbelievable example, and if everyone is like that then fantastic but we are different mentalities. If a player is not comfortable going on that pitch and he plays bad then we can't say we pushed him out there and that was the right thing. You need to have trust. And we have done it before without him. We talk about consistency but we have other good players who can do a job there as well."
Deila's other main dilemma on the night may be whether to continue with the callow Kieran Tierney at left back or the more experienced Emilio Izaguirre. With captain Scott Brown out with a knee problem, Tom Rogic could be flanked by Kris Commons and James Forrest behind Leigh Griffiths. "I want to see energy, people who love to run and want to attack and show their ability," said Deila. "We need to put up a performance which wins us three points."
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