Ronny Deila, the Celtic manager, believes James Forrest can become a £10m-rated player once more, but he won't rush the winger back into first-team action before he is completely ready.

Forrest, who is available for tonight's League Cup tie against Partick Thistle but unlikely to be risked, has endured a difficult two years after sustaining a series of injuries. He has not featured in the first team since suffering a hamstring strain in the final minute of Celtic's 6-1 victory over Dundee United on August 16.

The forward has only made three first-team appearances since Deila became manager in the summer but the Norwegian has seen enough in training to believe he has a special player among his ranks.

"I can understand why they said he is a £10m player," said the Celtic manager. "He has things that very few others have in a one-versus-one situation, skill and speed.

"The last two weeks, especially, I've seen what he can do in training. I'm looking forward to seeing him on the pitch. He could play now but we want him as fit as possible, get him ready to be consistent in his play - and hopefully he will stay on the pitch for longer than three or four games. We want to see him playing at full potential, so we are taking it slow.

"I would rather wait and have him for a long run in the team, instead of just pushing to get him in for one match. That is my expectation, that he can stay on the pitch longer.

"I think he understands. There have been so many hard days for him in the last two years and while he really wants to come back, he knows everything has to be as perfect as possible on and off the pitch.

"He is crucial. Every manager would have a player like James, who can go one against one, can go past people, is quick, makes penetrating runs and creates things. I'm looking forward to seeing him in my team for a long time."

Celtic yesterday hosted a meeting of representatives from member clubs of the third subdivision of the European Club Assocation.

Clubs from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and Wales met to discuss topics of common interest.

Key issues on the agenda were the Regional League concept, the UEFA Europa League access list and the solidarity payments concept.