RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, expressed the belief last night that his side are showing the form and hunger required to successfully pursue their hopes of a domestic treble after making considerable progress in negotiations geared towards securing Patrick Roberts on loan from Manchester City.

Celtic have a strong relationship with the Barclays Premier League club having agreed similar arrangements for John Guidetti and Jason Denayer and signed Dedryck Boyata on a permanent deal and are understood to be confident of securing the 18-year-old until the end of the season with a possible option to extend that.

Roberts was signed by City for more than £11million from Fulham in July, but he has made only three competitive appearances.

Talks took place against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty over the venue for the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round tie with East Kilbride, which has now been confirmed for Airdrieonians' Excelsior Stadium on Sunday, February 7.

Roberts, an England Under-19 winger, will arrive at a club in prolific form with Celtic having scored 15 goals in their last three league wins over Dundee United, Hamilton and St Johnstone. Deila is delighted with the way his team is entering a potentially season-defining run of games, beginning with Sunday's League Cup semi-final with Ross County, following a disappointing spell towards the end of 2015.

"We really, really want another cup final and we have a chance to get into one in the League Cup, which would be fantastic," said the Norwegian.

"I always take one game at a time, but you need to see the bigger picture and get the squad right for the games coming up afterwards. I see a lot of energy and confidence in the boys and we know we can beat anybody when we are playing at our best.

"We have had a good run of games now and we are starting to get into good form.

"We had a bad period in which we weren't playing well. We needed to get quicker and sharper in everything we do and be more direct when we have the ball. The pressing had to be better and we have looked more hungry in the last three games."

Sunday's meeting with Ross County at Hampden Park will be followed by a league visit to Aberdeen and then that encounter with East Kilbride. The Lowland League side had been struggling to secure a venue for the tie as a result of their 500-capacity K-Park ground being deemed unsuitable and Hamilton Academical refusing to allow their home of New Douglas Park, the closest viable ground to East Kilbride, to be used.

The Scottish FA Board announced in a statement on Tuesday evening, though, that they have given their approval to Excelsior Stadium.

"It seems to be a sensible choice in terms of capacity," said Billy Ogilvie, the East Kilbride manager.