RONNY DEILA has a bit of colour about him that suggests he did not spend the international break in a but'n'ben in the Highlands.
"I was in Marbella for a week, 25 degrees in the sun," revealed the Celtic manager, in a blow to the Scottish tourism board. "So that was good. I needed that. But now it's back to normal. I said to my girls, "we're back to reality"."
Everyone enjoys a holiday from time to time but Deila did not seem overly downbeat about being back at his work. Not when Celtic remain on track for a first domestic treble in 14 years, the next step of which will be a league encounter at bottom-of-the-table St Mirren tomorrow night.
Deila took the chance to reflect during his holiday in the sun, as well as recharging the batteries ahead of what could be a fairly demanding run-in.
"Of course you are always thinking a little bit and watching the international teams, what's happening there, but it was a very, very good week. It was a chance to reflect and it never stops so you need to use the possibilities you have to take some days off. But I'm ready now, looking forward to Friday."
Virgil van Dijk was another who used the break to get away from it all. It remains something of a surprise that the defender is still to feature on the radar of Guus Hiddink, the Dutch manager, but not being involved in the games against Turkey and Spain did at least give van Dijk the chance to head for the sun for a few days.
"My feeling is I needed this break a lot," he revealed. "I've never played so many games in a season as I have this year so far and the travelling is also quite hard at time, mentally. I needed it, a nice break with the family and get some rest and to be ready for Friday. I've been to Dubai and got some nice sun and relaxation. I saw Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor there - the better players were with their national teams!"
Van Dijk was sanguine about his lack of international opportunities, despite the Dutch struggling in their qualifying group.
"It's very difficult for me to say. Nobody asks the manager [Hiddink] or his staff either why I'm not getting a call-up. For me, the only thing I can do is play well for Celtic, work hard and prove myself day in and day out. I also have to keep enjoying what I'm doing. I'm at a good place and we hope for the treble. That's the main thing. I must see the positives and not the negatives - but in my mind there are no negatives. If I'm in the national team it would be a big bonus because last season I was playing okay and I've tried to continue that this season. If I get a call-up, then great."
One Celtic player denied a holiday was Jason Denayer who earned his first international cap for Belgium match away to Israel, something that came as a source of pride to van Dijk.
"It was good to see him make his debut and hopefully it is the start of a good international career for him. He is a good friend of mine now and I'm very happy he made his debut, it was a good day for him. If you are new at the club you always stay in your shell and don't say much. The best way to get respect from your team-mates is to show it on the pitch and he did that and now he has a lot of confidence, which you can see in the games."
Van Dijk was confident that Celtic, five points clear of Aberdeen with a game in hand, would now go on to win a fourth successive league title.
"Do I see the finishing line now? Yes, I do. But I was already confident that we were going to be champions anyway. It's still tight, but we're not going to lose twice. That's my feeling. We can't lose twice at Celtic either. We just need to keep going. I want to win the rest of the games of the season. If we operate at 100 percent we should do it. Every game's going to be difficult - but we can do it."
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