RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, wants his team to become “kings of their own castle” by once more making Parkhead a fortress that is feared both at home and abroad.

The stadium won’t be 100 per cent full this evening for the match with Qarabag FK, however, as always there will be a big crowd, certainly comparable to any other ties taking place across Europe this week, and the Norwegian wants the supporters to play their part in what he hopes is a victory.

Deila got a taste of those famous Celtic Park nights during the Inter Milan Europa League game last season but the atmosphere in the home games up to that point – Murrayfield was of course a temporary home for a while – did not come close to matching the iconic floodlight games of previous years.

Any recent European success enjoyed by Celtic has been built on their home form, helped by the fact even the biggest clubs such as Barcelona have recognised what a difficult place it is for a visiting side. It's something Deila thinks went missing for a while. He wants to see and feel the return of this atmosphere in what is a vital first-leg qualifier with the Azerbaijan outfit.

“I think it’s going to be an open game," said Deila. “We want it to be compact, close, and for us to be good defensively. When we do that, we are always a good team. It starts in defence.

“But it’s at Celtic Park, our castle. We need to be kings of that castle. That is what we are aiming for, to get Celtic Park to be the hardest place to come. This game is important in terms of what we can show as a team and also to make the atmosphere better.

“It’s about quality, about when we get good enough. I remember at the start of last season when the teams didn’t fear to come to Celtic Park, and they said that it is nothing. We changed that last season and now we have to bring that out in Europe."

As expected, Charlie Mulgrew is out with a ligament problem to his knee which is not thought to be serious. There is some good news, however, with the return of Kris Commons who has been sidelined with a broken toe.

Emilio Izaguirre will come back into the team and the Honduran, who has been off the pace in the games so far, is set for a major test against Qarabag who pride themselves on being strong on their wings.

“Charlie is struggling,” Deila confirmed. “This thing he got on Saturday is not big so he will be available for next Wednesday. But this game will be too early. It was a late tackle on him but I don’t think that’s what caused the pain.

“I have spoken several times with Emilio over the last few months. It is, again, competition. It’s about development and using the right players at the right moments. Emilio is a very good player and has no problem about playing in this game.

“Kris is in the squad. That is important for is. He is a quality player with a lot of experience. It’s good to have him back.”

Deila revealed he was “70 or 80 per cent” sure of what the starting eleven will be with his biggest decision surrounding whether to play Leigh Griffiths, Nadir Ciftci or even both.

He said: “We will see what happens. It’s a tough choice but it’s a sporting problem. They are two good players and both of them can be important in the game. Whether I play them both up front or one comes on for other or one comes on to play with the other, we’ll see during the game.

“I think Ciftci has qualities to drop more into the spaces and be a link player and Leigh can be the threat. In some games, that can be a positive. We’ll see on Wednesday if that is a way we go."