KRIS COMMONS has won his fitness battle and is ready to play in today's League Cup final.

The only unresolved injury issue he is suffering from this morning is some wounded pride.

The 31-year-old, who triumphantly swept the board of last season's player of the year awards, takes umbrage at the commonly-held perception that he is too old, too comfortable and too complacent to embrace the challenging new dynamic of the Ronny Deila era at Celtic. Even last month's decision to commit his future to the club amid interest from Neil Lennon at Bolton Wanderers hasn't been able to silence all the whispers, but Commons delights in confounding expectations and it would be no surprise if he helped deliver the first trophy of the Deila era.

"I'm not looking for an easy way out," said Commons. "I wasn't looking just to plod away through these next two or three years. I have a lot of goals for myself; to win more trophies, more cups. I want to win a treble and play in the Champions League these next couple of years. It's not signing a deal where I think 'oh, that's great, I can get my feet up'. He [Deila] will put pressure on me to keep improving so I've got to show signs of doing that and that's one of my goals - I want to get better as a player as I get older."

This last statement tells you all you need to know about the sense of self-improvement at Lennoxtown right now. In most regimes, and most other clubs, a 31-goal season like the one Commons conjured up in 2013-14 would be a sign that you are functioning near the top of your game. Such is the exacting pursuit of excellence under Ronny Deila and John Collins that even then you find a million different measurables telling you exactly what could make you better still. Could you make better decisions in the final third? Could you do more high intensity running? How does your body mass index compare with that of Cristiano Ronaldo?

"He [Deila] wants everyone to make targets to get fit, get healthier, make better touches, make better decisions on the ball and things like that," said Commons. "It is just completely different from last year. Then if you were doing well, it was a case of 'just keep doing what you are doing'. It is difficult when you feel you've come off a season doing really well then someone comes in and wants to change things.

"They talk about the likes of Ronaldo, who is this supreme athlete," the 31-year-old added. "He is the pinnacle, isn't he? He is the quickest, he can jump highest, he can score most goals. He is the target - he has got probably no fat. That is the target so whatever I am over that, that is the target for me to lose. But it is not just myself and the likes of Stokesy [Anthony Stokes] and Jamesy [James Forrest], the lads who have picked up injuries. Even Craig Gordon has had words about it, Nir Bitton, Charlie Mulgrew."

If Stuart Armstong and Gary Mackay-Steven are closer to this idealised footballer right now than Commons - for the record, Mackay-Steven can get through 1,300m of high intensity running in a game compared to his 850-900m - thankfully for Commons' sake, the cup tied duo aren't in contention for a place today, nor shall they be should Celtic reach the Scottish Cup final in May. It all presents the 31-year-old, who already has ten goals to his name from an injury-ravaged campaign, with an enviable shot at the limelight as the club endeavours to record only the fourth treble in its history.

It all starts today in the only domestic tournament Commons has yet to win. While Hampden has generally been a happy hunting ground - he scored there on his debut against Aberdeen and swept in a fine goal during the Old Firm semi-final to take the club here today - his two League Cup final appearances to date have have been traumatic.

After a rude awakening against Walter Smith's Rangers side in 2011, he was surprisingly left out of the 2012 reverse against Kilmarnock, when Anthony Stokes was controversially deprived a late penalty. This miserable catalogue doesn't even take into account early round mishaps such as the one against Morton last season.

"I remember I was a bit unhappy I wasn't playing in that one," said Stokes of the Kilmarnock match. "That was one of our strongest teams. It was the Stokesy penalty - I can still remember the talk after it. It was disappointing - it just showed you that on any given day we can get beaten. Teams do step up to the mark in big competitions because it is their chance to win medals as well. This weekend is going to be no easy feat either.

"It's a cup I haven't won in Scotland so it's a big deal," he added. "I think it's only Scott Brown who has won it since 2009 in the whole squad so our lads will be looking to put a trophy in the cabinet and concentrate on the other two.

"There are only two Celtic managers that have ever done the treble, so that just shows you the difficulty, although I do think it's a little bit easier now. It's something we have been knocking on the door of for a little while."

It wasn't so long ago that Commons and Deila were painted as implacable arch enemies. It would be one of life's little ironies today if the former was to fire the latter into Scottish football folklore.