RONNY DEILA showed that a lack of European experience was of little or no concern to him when it came to selecting players for Champions League or Europa League matches in his debut season in charge at Celtic.

He handed Callum McGregor a start against KR Reykjavik in his first competitive match last July and was rewarded for his bold decision when the youngster netted a late winner in a Champions League qualifier over in Iceland.

Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven also kicked off both games against Inter Milan in the last 32 of the Europa League in February despite the pair only having joined from Dundee United that month.

Armstrong promptly netted against the Italians and Mackay-Steven played superbly out wide to more than, despite Celtic exiting the competition on away goals, justify their manager’s faith in them.

So, it perhaps shouldn’t have been any great surprise when Deila gave Nadir Ciftci, the striker he had signed from United six days before, a start in the first leg of the Champions League second qualifying round against FC Stjarnan last night.

The £1.5m capture had made an instant impression when he came on as a second-half substitute against Real Sociedad in a pre-season friendly Paisley on Friday night; he set up Mackay-Steven for the winning goal with only his second touch of the ball.

Despite playing less than 45 minutes of football for his new club, the 23-year-old Turk found himself in the starting line-up for Celtic’s first meaningful match of the 2015/16 campaign.

Ciftci had an opportunity to open his account after just nine minutes had elapsed when he received the ball in space from Stefan Johansen inside the opposition box. He turned sharply and shot only to see his effort denied by the legs of Stjarnan keeper Gunnar Nielsen.

Nielsen, the Faroe Islands internationalist, spent a fairly forgettable second spell at Motherwell before leaving earlier this year. But he was clearly inspired by his return to Scotland. He frustrated the home team repeatedly in the first half to the dismay of the sizeable support.

He was aided, however, by the Scottish champions’ lack of ruthlessness up front. The Ciftci chance, which he should really have done better with, was a taste of what was to come from the hosts. Their finishing left much to be desired. In fact, it was dreadful.

It is, though, the start of the new term. After just three friendly outings, against Den Bosch, Dukla Prague and Sociedad at St Mirren Park, was it really fair to expect a goal fest no matter how limited their rivals?

The home supporters, who turned up in large numbers despite the far from glamorous opposition, were certainly entitled to better fare. Their side’s passing was often slack, their play going forward lacking in imagination and, on the rare occasion Stjarnan made it upfield, their defending unconvincing.

Stjarnan players Jappe Hansen and Hordur Arnason were allowed to get away shots on goal in the opposition area early in the second half. Celtic were very lucky indeed that their adversaries were just as rusty in the final third of the park.

Ciftci may have been playing for the home team at Parkhead for the first team and could, as a result, be excused the opportunities he failed to capitalise on. But Scott Brown, James Forrest, Emilio Izaguirre, Mikael Lustig Charlie Mulgrew should have done far better. Forrest in particular was disappointing.

The inclusion of Dedryck Boyata, another new signing, at centre-half was expected. Virgil van Dijk was unavailable due to being ordered off in the last European game of last season against Inter in the San Siro.

The 24-year-old defender, a £1.5m signing from Manchester City back in June, took up his place in the heart of the Celtic rearguard alongside Mulgrew and acquitted himself admirably throughout the 90 minutes.

He capped a solid performance, albeit against a far from formidable strikeforce, when he opened the scoring just before half-time. He nodded home a Johansen cross from a few yards out to defuse the tension which was building inside the ground palpably.

An exquisite through ball from Armstrong to Johansen allowed the playmaker, who had been operating just off lone striker Ciftci, to dink a shot beyond the cruelly exposed Nielsen and add to his side’s tally.

Leigh Griffiths, who had replaced the ineffectual Forrest, insisted that he be allowed to take a penalty after Johansen had been barged over by Arnason in 78 minutes. His soft attempt was saved. It kind of summed up a frustrating evening for Celtic.