Celtic manager Ronny Deila expressed his frustration at his side's lack of creativity after they were held to a goalless draw by Kilmarnock on Saturday.

The Hoops dominated possession but failed to really test Kilmarnock 'keeper Jamie MacDonald as they couldn't find their way past some resolute Killie defending.

It is only the second time this season that Celtic have failed to score in the league and Deila bemoaned his side's inability to break down an organised Kilmarnock defence.

"It was very frustrating as over the 90 minutes we had 70 per cent possession," Deila fumed.

"Today we had a lack of tempo, creativity and timing in the last third of the pitch. We didn't create enough but we still should have won the game.

"Every game we want to win and I want to perform well. The boys had good attitude and they really wanted to fight today and did everything they could but their timing in the last third of the pitch was not good -- for probably the first time this year.

"When we talk about the league we have created a lot and scored a lot of games but today it was not to be. It is very important for us to keep discipline and keep width in our play. That is what was disappointing in the last 30 minutes as we started to get everybody in the centre of the pitch."

It is the second time Celtic have failed to defeat Kilmarnock after the Rugby Park side came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw back in August.

However, the Glasgow giants remain six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after Hearts were held to a 1-1 draw by Dundee.

It is not ideal preparation for Celtic's must-win Europa League match against Ajax on Thursday.

The Scottish champions are bottom of Group A with just two points following back-to-back defeats to Norwegian side Molde.

Celtic must defeat Ajax and Turkish side Fenerbahce in their final two games to stand a chance of making the final 16 and Belgian defender Dedryck Boyata admits the Hoops will have to be at their very best if they are to claim victory at Parkhead on Thursday.

"Ajax is a team that likes to play football. You never know but I don't think they will stay at the back," Boyata, whose side drew 2-2 at the Amsterdam Arena, said.

"When we play against a team that comes at us then there are more spaces and maybe we can create more chances.

"It is a really important game. We've lost the last two games and that was disappointing. We know how good we can be and we didn't manage to be as good as we usually are.

"It's a really important game and we need to be at our best. We usually say we have to be 100 per cent but this time we need to be at 200 per cent."

Skipper Scott Brown should be available for the game despite hobbling off at the end of the draw with Kilmarnock but Kris Commons is a doubt with a hamstring injury following a bout of illness.