THEY say that in the best central defensive partnerships the two defenders are virtually able to read each other's minds.

Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer aren't quite there yet, then. When the pair of them spoke the other day Denayer had no idea what his senior partner was about to say. "I told him he was in the Belgium squad," said Van Dijk. "He didn't know!"

When Van Dijk and Denayer came to Celtic they had never been called up for the Netherlands or Belgium respectively, and now both have reached those little milestones. Those selections rewarded the impact they have made for Celtic, Van Dijk over 61 appearances in a season-and-a- quarter and Denayer over just eight games. Celtic know they are not going to evolve into a modern-day Billy McNeill-John Clark axis. Denayer is at Parkhead only on loan. He has a long way to go but if he continues to improve Manchester City will take him back or sell him on for a fee higher than Celtic can afford. Van Dijk, too, is unlikely to be around beyond the end of the current season.

"The two of them are of a very high quality," said Ronny Deila, the manager. "We should take the goalkeeper [Craig Gordon] into things as well. It's very hard to get beyond those three. When you look at the goals we have conceded [16 so far in 16 games] and the chances against us it's stupid individual mistakes and passes, just sloppy, sloppy play. Almost no team has opened us up. That's the positive.

"The central line [through the spine of the team] is very important. Scott Brown has a huge impact. Stefan Johansen played his best game against Dinamo Zagreb, he was all over the pitch for 90 minutes. When you have those five in the central line you have a good opportunity to win games and we have started to do that. We haven't lost with Scott on the pitch and I hope we keep going.

"It's about getting the best out of the players and with Jason we have done that. With Virgil as well, he's better now and improves all the time. He looks fit and sharp and for me I hope when he leaves Celtic he goes to a top, top international club and we're talking about one that could win the Champions League. That's the goal but of course I want to keep him here as he's a vital player for us.

"In my opinion, if he gets consistency in his play and is even more disciplined in his structure I can't see his weaknesses. He's quick, he's strong, he's good on the ball, he's calm, he reads the play well, he's good in the air. You name it, he has everything. He is the perfect defender. But he is his own enemy, he has to step up every day and go to training to get even better."

Celtic have just won games in three different competitions over nine days and are unbeaten in seven. Some of the performances have been patchy - Dundee away, Motherwell at home, St Mirren away, Dinamo Zagreb at home - but the results are slowly building foundations. When Van Dijk was asked about Deila, specifically about his famously firm views on players having to make sacrifices on diet and fitness, he was fully supportive. "It's good for us all, it's not something that makes you worse or anything else," said the 23-year-old.

"He wants to make us better players and wants to get everything out of us. I think that's a good sign. But he is also busy trying to win games and that's the most important thing in football. If you want to play at the highest level and get everything out of yourself then, of course, you need to do what it takes. Diet and fitness are important. They belong there. He's the gaffer and he wants us to do it. That's his right and I think it will only make us better human beings and better players."

Celtic face Hamilton at Parkhead tomorrow before a 13-day wait until their next SPFL Premiership fixture against Ross County. By then Mikael Lustig, Adam Matthews, Charlie Mulgrew and James Forrest, four international players, may all be back. The last time Hamilton won a league game at Parkhead was in 1939, yet they are second in the league and three points ahead of Celtic.

"They get the best out of their players," said Deila. "They play nice football, they play with a lot of energy, and they are fearless. It is going to be a very good game. I am looking forward to it.

"You can see the players are having fun and they go out here without fear. And they have a pattern which they stick to. They play and play and play, and at the end you will succeed. That is what we saw yesterday with Zagreb.

"The pattern has been set for many years. It is what I want to create here as well, so when you put in a player they know exactly what to do and they just go in and play. That's how you can manage to kill the best teams in Europe: you have a pattern and you develop players in a certain style."