RONNY Deila has revealed he had doubts about whether he could handle teething troubles at the start of his Celtic career.

Having now steadied the club's form and kept it fighting in four tournaments he promised to repay the board of directors for backing him over new signings and contract talks.

Victory in the Scottish Cup at Dundee today would complete the best week of Deila's Celtic career so far, he said. He was relaxed as he reflected on the traumatic first couple of months of this season when things threatened to go badly wrong. Before the end of August Legia Warsaw and Maribor had knocked Celtic out of the Champions League and Delia had made only a series of low key loan and free agent moves in the transfer market.

The side also won only four of its first eight Premiership matches. Now, with the team still on course for a possible treble and about to face Inter Milan in the Europa League, Deila said he was thrilled to have beaten Rangers in the League Cup semi-final, signed Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, and secured Kris Commons on a longer contract.

"This is my best week, if we win at Dundee. I'm very comfortable and glad with the way the board and Peter [Lawwell, the chief executive] has worked. They have really worked hard to get it the way I want it. I have to thank Peter for that. It's been crazy around the club, but not inside the club. Peter knows what it is all about. He has been here many years. I said we wanted to add players and keep everybody and the board have done that, which shows the players the club really wants this treble and they are giving everyone the trust which we need.

"Our goal is to repay the board with trophies. But again I repay them with working hard every day, and sacrifice everything to get results. So we will pay each other if we win what we want to win."

The early-season difficulties had occasionally kept him awake at night, he said. "It is not about pressure, it is about finding answers. I have no problem with pressure. But if I see it is just crowded around me and I can't find the way to get out of the problems, then I am worried. That was in the beginning. It was too much in a short time and things I couldn't handle. For the first two months the team wasn't prepared for the Champions League and that was a hard part to go through. The goal is to be in the same situation next year but be very well prepared and hopefully go through to the Champions League."

There had been low points when the 39-year-old wondered if his first job outside Norway might not work out. "Yes, of course you always think those thoughts. 'Maybe it's too many changes'. And it's tough to come from Norway. You don't get any extra [time] when you are Ronny Deila from Stromsgodset in Norway. It is not a big name.

"I have learned a lot from Celtic and from the players. I've learned the culture in the country and how important it is to win and to develop while winning. I have learned about the game in Scotland. I have also seen that when you get into a new club with bigger stars who earn money, they are the same people you train in Norway and need the same things. You have to have a smile on your face and we have to do this together with evolution and not revolution.

"Are we on the same page now? Yes. The team is in a good place. The three training sessions this week have been the best since I arrived. The two new players [Armstrong and Mackay-Steven] were better than I thought and I see the other players are delighted we have got them in. They have been welcomed. The quality is high and now we have to put it into the games."

Supporters posted footage on social media of Deila dancing with what newspapers called "a mysterious woman" on Sunday night, hours after winning his first Old Firm game to reach the League Cup final. He made light of the story: "It's not the first time I've relaxed in this city. After a game I go to this restaurant with 15 Norwegians, ten of them from my family. I was dancing with my mother, so the mysterious girl was my mother."