Kris Commons on Van Persie and Nani

Kris Commons hailed Robin van Persie and Nani as world class but the Celtic midfielder is not fazed by Fenerbahce.

The 32-year-old, as a Derby County player, faced up to Nani when the Portugal international was at Manchester United and he experienced the abilities of Holland striker Van Persie at first hand on international duty with Scotland six years ago.

Commons was succinct in his summation of the duo - 'they are world class' - but insists the Ladbrokes Premiership side will not be worried ahead of the Europa League clash with the Turkish side at Parkhead on Thursday night.

He added: 'They have been at the top of their game for a long, long period of time and proved they are world-class players so I regard them very highly.'

Commons said: 'We've seen footage of them in the last couple of days and they've still got the business. We're going to come up against a very strong team but I wouldn't say we're scared of any individual. Our game plan is to eliminate their best players but there's nothing to worry about. It will be very difficult. I regard this group as a Champions League group. It's full of top quality European players. When they put their starting eleven out you will see some household names but if we put our mind to it we'll give them a good game.'

Hoops boss Ronny Deila will ignore speculation about a rift between Van Persie and Fenerbahce coach Vitor Pereira.

The 32-year-old former Arsenal and Manchester United striker has not always been a first pick but has come off the bench to score in the Turkish side's last two games, a 2-1 home win over Bursaspor and a 3-2 away defeat by Besiktas.

Deila says: 'There are a lot of rumours in football. We have to focus on what we are going to do to cause Fenerbahce problems and they have to deal with what they have to deal with. What we know about Fenerbahce is that when they are playing at their best they are a very good team and van Persie is a fantastic player and goal scorer as well. He has been in and out of the team lately but he has scored when he has come on and everybody knows he is quality, a top striker. We have seen their four latest games and they lost the last game against Besiktas. We know they have a lot of quality players and they are a good team when they are playing at their best but we also see weaknesses that we can exploit.'

Celtic are in the Europa League again after failing to reach the Champions League for the second successive season under the tutelage of the former Stromsgodset boss.

Deila, however, believes there has been improvement during his tenure, a view shared by majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond who said: 'I feel very confident that he'll continue to improve all the teams at Celtic. I'm very confident at Ronny's future at Celtic.'

The Hoops manager said: 'The most important thing is that you have support and I have had that all the time. We have a fantastic leader in him (Desmond) and also in Peter (Lawwell, chief executive), and it is important to feel united. We talk a lot together and we know what we want to do and I agree with him. I think that we are progressing all the time. We are in a good way. There is still a lot of work to be done but I feel alot more confidence in this group stage than the same time last year.'