RONNY DEILA has headed into the most pivotal month of Celtic's season on the back of the war cry: We can beat anyone.

The Hoops boss includes Europa League Last 32 opponents, Inter Milan, in that catch all.

And, most importantly, Deila is convinced his players now echo his ultra-confident view after they sailed through potentially-tricky cup ties against Rangers and Dundee to begin fateful February in style.

"That's the belief I have going into every game, that we can beat anyone," insisted Deila, who travelled to Italy yesterday to watch Inter beat Palermo 3-0 in Serie A.

"And that's a good feeling.

"Now we are together and we are all fighting and playing in the same direction.

"That's is showing on the pitch. The players are having fun.

"They enjoy running together, and that's a good start."

In his eight months in charge, Deila has worked as much on the mental side of his squad as the physical side.

He reckons the rewards are now being reaped, and that the current run and form has converted any lingering doubters to his green party.

Deila said: "The players now also believe that we can beat anyone.

"They have gone a long time keeping clean sheets and also winning games.

"And I think you can see this in their level of confidence now."

Deila is adamant he could even sense that confidence oozing out of his squad when they were training ahead of the cup tie at Dens.

That was welcomed by a man who was acutely aware that his most satisfying week as Celtic manager could have come crashing down around his ears if they had been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dundee, ending their Treble dream.

Deila accepts that's part and parcel of the job, but refused to let any doubt enter his mind as they headed to Tayside.

He said: "I was very, very excited about this cup tie and how we were going to perform.

"The players showed me exactly what I wanted to see.

"It's in this club's culture to win games. It is not enough to win one. You have to win all of the time, and I can see that in the boys.

"Now we want to carry this momentum into Wednesday's match against Partick Thistle.

"This is a very important game for us because the League Championship is the most important thing for us."

Mikael Lustig and Kris Commons are serious doubts for Celtic's first trip to Firhill this season after coming off with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively at Dens.

But new signings, Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, will both come into contention to make their Hoops' debut.