Deila expects interest in Scotland newcomer Kieran Tierney

Celtic manager Ronny Deila believes Kieran Tierney is set to attract numerous suitors following his first cap for Scotland.

Southampton are reportedly interested in the 18-year-old left-back, who only forced his way into the Celtic team this season before featuring for Gordon Strachan's side in the first-half of the 1-0 friendly win over Denmark on Tuesday.

The Norwegian expressed little surprise over the link with the Barclays Premier League club and expects more of the same.

"I can tell you one thing, that is not the last club you come up with,'' said Deila ahead of the Premiership clash with Hearts at Parkhead on Saturday lunchtime.

"When you are playing for the Scotland national team at 18 years old and you play regularly for Celtic, of course the clubs will be after him.

"But he is going to stay here, that is the best thing for his development.

"Now, he just has to have the consistency, play all the time and be a very important player for us.

"I didn't get to see the first half at Hampden, I only saw the second but I got told he did well. I spoke to Gordon and he was satisfied and I am not very surprised by that.

"He showed what we have seen at Celtic, he is ready at this level. He is a young kid, mentally strong, physically strong and has adapted unbelievably quickly.

"Why? He works really hard every day in training, he is a humble guy, respectful, keen to learn new things and very disciplined.

"I am so happy for him but at the same time he has a lot to improve. He knows that himself.''

Deila was "proud'' to see Tierney, skipper Scott Brown, keeper Craig Gordon, utility player Charlie Mulgrew and striker Leigh Griffiths feature against the Danes, after Mulgrew started in a completely different line-up against the Czech Republic five days earlier.

He said: "It is very good and it makes me proud. And also they won both games and that is a good thing for Scottish football.

"We are Scottish and we want to the best club and we also need the players in the national team.

"I think there was a statistic that said we had over 30 players in various national teams, you can't be disappointed in that.

"It is a positive thing, it says that there is a lot of talent here.''

League leaders Celtic are four points ahead of second-placed Aberdeen with a game in hand and Deila is looking to push home the advantage before the split.

After hosting Hearts, Celtic visit Dundee on Tuesday night before facing Motherwell at Fir Park next week.

The former Stromsgodset boss said: "We can see the finishing line so it is going to be a good game tomorrow. We need to keep on winning football games.

"I think that they (Aberdeen) will win every game and we will have to do the same. We have been very consistent and we have to keep on the same way.''

Deila was glad to see Danish defender Erik Sviatchenko return to training following the crunching tackle on him by fellow substitute Liam Bridcutt during the game against Scotland.

The Hoops boss said: "I was a little bit concerned because it was a rough tackle but he is good. He didn't train yesterday but is back in training today. It was good he got through.''

Striker Carlton Cole injured a knee in training and he will have a scan to ascertain the extent of the damage.