Celtic: Leigh Griffiths and Nir Bitton 'fit for Europe'
Last updated on .From the section Football
Celtic manager Ronny Deila expects Leigh Griffiths and Nir Bitton to be fit for Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against Qarabag in Azerbaijan.
Griffiths was withdrawn through injury after 18 minutes of the 2-0 win over Ross County after opening the scoring.
Midfielder Bitton had been rested on the bench nursing an ankle injury.
"I think it's just a knock in his calf and hopefully he will be ready for Wednesday," said Deila about Griffiths.
Deila also thought Celtic would improve on a performance he criticised despite the victory in the opening game of their defence of the Scottish Premiership title.
Griffiths' early opener from the penalty spot was added to by Stefan Johansen before the break, but County troubled Celtic more in the second half.
"I think the first half was OK," he told BBC Scotland. "We scored two goals and had control of the game.
"The second half was a poor performance. We were too open and gave the ball away all the time. It seems like we lost our concentration.
"We have to do 90 minutes every time we play and learn from this, but I think you are going to see a totally different team on Wednesday."
Craig Gordon was shown a yellow card for pulling down former Celtic midfielder Jackson Irvine before the home side scored their second.
Asked if his goalkeeper had been lucky to escape being sent off, Deila said: "It is hard for me to say. I haven't looked at it one more time, but it is a tough decision."
However, County boss Jim McIntyre said it was "an obvious goalscoring opportunity", adding: "Jackson will get on the ball and I think Virgil van Dijk's outside the box.
"We've just got to take that one on the chin. If we score at that stage, it certainly helps our cause."
McIntyre was pleased with his side's performance overall, saying they showed "plenty of character".
"I've been here with teams when you lost a goal after three minutes and it becomes a rout," he said.
"There were spells, especially in the second half, when we showed far more belief and created a few opportunities.
"In the first half we were too respectful and did not get forward enough.
"There was plenty of encouragement and our fans will have seen we have signed some quality players."