No Decision Yet On Tonev

Photo by Jeff Holmes Ronny Deila has yet to decide if he will take Aleksandar Tonev to Aberdeen on Sunday despite appealing the Celtic winger's racism ban. The 24-year-old Bulgarian - on loan from Aston Villa - was suspended by the Scottish Football Association for seven matches for using "offensive, insulting and abusive language of a racist nature" towards Dons defender Shay Logan when the two teams met in September. Tonev missed the 1-0 home Premiership win over Inverness at the weekend but travelled to Romania with the rest of the Hoops' for the Europa League clash with Astra Giurgiu on Thursday night. The Parkhead club's appeal, confirmed on Wednesday, leaves him free to play in the Granite City at the weekend where feelings are sure to be running high. However, Deila admits it will be easier to play him against Astra than against Aberdeen. He said: "We will see what is happening, it is too early to say. "I think it is easier to play in Europe than to play in Scotland right now, because of what is happening and also because it is against Aberdeen. "I understand that it is a tough situation for him and the club. "We have put in the appeal and hopefully we get that right because this is a very hard penalty when it is (a player's) word against word - and we believe the player." Skipper Scott Brown insists the Celtic dressing room is right behind Tonev. The Scotland midfielder said: "We all stick by him. We know he didn't say it, that's the main thing and all the lads in the dressing room believe him. "I don't think he needs to explain himself. We know Aleksandar doesn't come in and lie. "He talks to everyone in that changing room so we have no problem. Celtic are behind Salzburg at the top of Group D with seven points from three games, following their 2-1 win over the Romanian outfit in Glasgow last month. Deila believes 10 points should be enough to get through to the last-32, an achievement he believes would beat winning the league with Stromsgodset in Norway. "I am happy with the position," he said. "We have three very hard games now. It is quite tight but I think if we get victory tonight we have a very good chance of going through and it would be the biggest achievement of my career. "We are talking about Europe now. "It is hard to compare achievements but there are more teams in the tournament and it is much bigger to go through in Europe than be a champion in Norway."