RONNY Deila last night dismissed suggestions that Celtic were wrong to sanction Anthony Stokes’s loan move to Hibs – due to the fact the striker could help to prevent Rangers from winning promotion to the Premiership.
Stokes, who has featured just twice for Celtic all season, has joined the Edinburgh club until the end of the 2015/16 campaign and is set to play for them in a Championship match against St. Mirren at Easter Road this afternoon.
The switch has been queried by many in Scottish football because Hibs are currently vying with Rangers, who are just five points clear in the second tier table with 16 games remaining, for a place in the top flight.
Securing the services of the Republic of Ireland internationalist should, despite his lack of game time in recent months, improve Alan Stubbs's side significantly.
Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, last season admitted the Ibrox club’s absence from the Premiership costs the Parkhead club £10 million every financial year.
Deila, though, believes the move will prove beneficial for both Stokes and Celtic and stressed that Rangers must win promotion on their own merit.
“For me the most important thing for Stokes now is that he goes to an environment where he is wanted, where he will play and where he is happy so that he can get games and get his career on track again,” he said. “It will benefit him, it will benefit Hibs and it will benefit us.
“You have to be good enough if you are going to go up and every club now is getting new players in during January. If Rangers or Hibs or whoever is coming up, then they have to be good enough to get into the top division. That is how I am thinking about it.”
Deila has only played against Rangers once since he move to Scotland from Norway two years ago. His Celtic side beat their Glasgow rivals 2-0 in the semi-final of the League Cup at Hampden last season.
He admitted that he would like to pit his wits against the Ibrox club in the Premiership in the future – but stressed he was unconcerned about what was happening in the Championship this term. “I want to have the best teams in the top division, but I don’t care who comes up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deila, who this week signed Danish centre half Eric Sviatchencko in a £1.5 million deal, stressed he could bring in another striker during the January transfer window following the departure of Stokes.
However, he confirmed that Nadir Ciftci, the Turkish centre forward who has only featured sporadically since joining from Dundee United in the summer due to the form of Leigh Griffiths, was still in his thoughts.
“It’s about getting the right ones,” he said as he prepared for the Premiership meeting with St. Johnstone at Celtic Park this afternoon. “If they are not then we won’t bring in anyone else. We have three strikers at the club, but if we find someone who we think will make us better and there’s a possibility to do it then we will look at doing it.
“It’s tough when you have one scoring all of the time. Nadir (Ciftci) came in the summer and needs time to adapt, like all of the players coming in, it takes time. He has shown his potential in some games, like Hearts away, but there is a lot more to come from him.
“We work every day in training and talk to him to get the best out of him. It’s a big change for him coming here, like it was with Gary (Mackay-Steven) and Stuart (Armstrong)."
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