Celtic manager Ronny Deila says he is beginning to see signs of the sort of performances he wants from his side following their rout of Ross County at Victoria Park.

Four first-half goals helped Celtic on their way to a 5-0 demolition of bottom-of-the-table County on Saturday to ease the pressure on beleaguered Hoops boss Deila.

The defending champions have lost two and drawn two of their opening nine league games since the Norwegian took charge at Celtic Park in the summer.

Following their loss at home to Hamilton Academical before the international break, which saw the defending champions slump to sixth in the Scottish Premiership table, many pundits viewed the match in Dingwall as a must-win for Deila.

However, the return from injury of many key players coupled with some clinical finishing saw Celtic put in the kind of performance they haven't shown since their 6-1 thrashing of Dundee United back in August. And Deila has demanded his players perform to this level on a more consistent basis.

"I have seen it in periods in some games but we need it more often," the Celtic boss said.

"The boys had a lot of chances today and it could have been more if we had pushed on in the second half.

"I think we are setting higher and higher standards and I think today we showed in the first half how good we can be so I am very pleased.

"The result is everything but sometimes you need to see behind it. Against Hamilton we had 12 chances and we couldn't score one. Today we had maybe 10 and scored five so that's good.

"We are on the right track in that way and I think also defensively we keep a clean sheet which is very good.

"We do work every day. It is all about preparation and being 100 per cent in shape in everything you do. Today we were up for the game and we had the supporters behind us as well and it is hard to beat Celtic."

The Norwegian manager has come in for much criticism since his arrival in Glasgow but Deila insists he has never lost faith in himself or his methods.

"I believe in myself and the ideas I have. I know it's going to work but we have to get everyone to go in the same direction," he insisted.

"I think it's getting better and better in every game we play and the boys were fantastic in the first 45 minutes.

"We just kept the ball and created chances all the time. They worked hard and they had good quick reactions when we lost the ball to win it back and created things from both sides.

"We were also good in set plays so there were a lot of good things in this match.

"This game was a step forward but we have to keep on working and try to make small improvements every day."

Deila says the resounding win in Dingwall will give his men a psychological boost ahead of their Europa League match against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu at Celtic Park on Thursday.

"We are looking forward to that game and it is very important because if we win that game we are in a very good position in the group," the Celtic boss said.

"It is a step up and in Europe you need higher performances at a higher performance than Scotland."

Hamilton remain top of the Premiership following their 3-0 win over Aberdeen on Friday, a point ahead of Dundee United who saw off Partick Thistle 1-0 thanks to a late Nadir Ciftci penalty.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle held on to third spot with a 1-0 win away to St Mirren with Kilmarnock joining the Highlanders on 20 points after their 2-1 victory over St Johnstone, while Dundee inflicted a third straight defeat on Motherwell with a 3-1 victory at Fir Park.