Ronny Deila was satisfied by Celtic’s 2-0 win over East Kilbride as the hoops progressed to the last eight of the Scottish Cup.
It was the Lowland League side that took the applause at the full time whistle as they kept the scoreline down.
Leigh Griffiths and Colin Kazim Richards scored in each half but the performance failed to provide the Celtic fans that they were looking for after back-to-back defeats from Ross County and Aberdeen.
At half time and full time the Celtic fans booed in frustration with the well drilled Lowland League side holding out manfully against full time opponents.
“I’m happy that we controlled the game and won comfortably, 2-0 in the end,” Deila said. “We wanted to create more but it was a hard surface, the ball moved quickly but we’re happy to get through.
“I wasn’t worried, I think that we had very good control of the game. We have to give credit to our opponents, they worked really hard. It’s important to go through and we’re looking forward to the next round.”
RD: “It would have been hard if we’d lost today so it was a crucial victory but I was comfortable during the 90 minutes.”
— Celtic Football Club (@celticfc) February 7, 2016
Charlie Mulgrew made his first appearance in three months while Ryan Christie and Scott Allan were given a run during the second half.
Celtic’s opener came off Griffiths’ hand with the second bundled into the net from close range by Richards.
There was no comfort for Celtic supporters from the performance with hoops fans concerned about the direction that the team is heading against a revived title challenge from Aberdeen.
The build up to next Saturday’s home match against Ross County is bound to be nervy with a commanding, and winning performance essential to keep the critics at arms length.
