RONNY Deila has concurred with his countryman Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - and admitted it would be easier for Celtic to compete in Europe if Rangers were in the top flight of Scottish football.

Solskjaer steered Molde to a second successive victory over Celtic at Parkhead on Thursday night – a result which booked a place in the knockout rounds of a continental competition for the first time in their history.

The legendary Manchester United striker, whose injury-time goal won the Old Trafford club the Champions League in 1999, expressed sympathy for his compatriot after the 2-1 triumph in the Group A match.

The Norwegian believes the ongoing absence of a meaningful title race in this country makes it demanding for the Glasgow club to step up to either the Champions League or the Europa League.

“It’s hard when you win the league just turning up every year,” said Solskjaer. “It’s natural that they struggle get up to the heights of when you had the Old Firm derbies because at least then you had some top top games. They are not used to playing against Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal any more.”

The breathtaking performances of Molde, who are currently in sixth place in the Tippeligaen, in the Europa League in the 2015/16 campaign would seem to disprove their manager’s own theory.

As well as defeating Celtic both home and away in the space of a fortnight, they beat Fenerbahce away and drew with Ajax at home and qualified ahead of their more celebrated rivals with two group games still to be played as a result.

However, asked if he believed there was any truth to Solskjaer’s statement, Deila replied: “It’s a very easy question to answer. Of course, if you play at a high level every week the whole team will be better every week.

“The higher the Scottish league’s level rises, the better the teams will do in Europe. Of course that’s a big thing. Having said that, I don’t say that the other teams are so bad. I don’t disrespect them.

“But of course when you have to stretch yourself every game it’s easier to improve. That’s how it is. You get tested much more.”

He continued: “Having said that, these games are very different. We have the ball, we attack and we have to stop the counter-attack. That’s how 90 per cent of the games in Scotland are.

“When you come to Europe, they ask questions in a different way. They sometimes start playing lower in the pitch and work us more than Scottish teams.

“The answer is that of course if the Scottish league is better it will be easier in Europe as well. But, again, that’s not being disrespectful. That’s just the truth.

“The distance between the Scottish Premiership and the English Premier League or La Liga is huge - we are the number 40 league in Europe right now.”

Playing their domestic football in Scotland, however, was no excuse for the standard of defending which Celtic produced against Molde on Thursday night and, for that matter, have shown in the majority of their European outings this season.

Tyler Blackett - the on-loan Manchester United player who came on for the injured Jozo Simunovic early on before himself being replaced in the second half – and Dedryck Boyata looked uncomfortable in the heart of the backline.

Both Blackett and Boyata were responsible for the opening goal which Mohamed Elyounoussi netted in the first half; the former headed a cross straight to the centre forward and the latter failed to close him down.

But Deila, whose side will attempt to bounce back from the demoralising display and result against Ross County in a Premiership match in Dingwall tomorrow, has backed both individuals to put the harrowing experience behind them and prove their worth.

“I think he (Boyata) agrees that’s not good enough,” said Deila. “But you have to see also that Dedryck Boyata has not played regularly for some years. Now he has played regularly for three or four months and he is in a learning process.

“But again – it’s not good enough. There’s the clearance from Tyler and Dedryck should be closer. The other goal is way too easy. This is individual things. We need to get some character, leadership and determination.

“I have seen him being brave also. I’ve seen him blocking things as well. But yesterday he should be closer to the situation. I believe that Dedryck can be a very good central defender.

He has the ability but he has to improve like everybody else. But I see talent in him. I see a defender.

“Tyler is very young. Again, he’s come to Celtic where there are big expectations. He looked nervous yesterday but that’s something he has to handle and we have to improve to get him better.”

Deila is now under more pressure than at any stage previously in his spell in charge of Celtic with a growing number of supporters of the view that he has to be replaced if they are going to realise their European ambitions.

The 40-year-old is aware that it is his responsibility to produce an upturn in performances and results and knows that if his charges fail to show a significant improvement he will be the one held accountable.

“We have to work every day with them in training,” he said. “We have to work with them over time and coach around them to make them feel they can grow. That’s what we have done - a lot of players here have improved. People have stepped up so we are doing something right there.

“We cannot fight against the big teams. But we can beat Molde, Malmo and Legia Warsaw. That’s my target next year when we come into the Champions League, hopefully.”