Celtic boss Ronny Deila has warned his side that they will need to improve on the defensive performance they produced in the closing stages of the 4-2 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle when they take on Malmo in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

The Bhoys are attempting to return to the group stage of the competition after missing out a year ago but face a difficult test against the Swedish champions.

Celtic have already won qualifiers against Stjarnan of Iceland and Qarabag of Azerbaijan to reach this stage, while Malmo edged to a 3-2 aggregate victory against Salzburg in their third qualifying round encounter.

The Swedish side had lost the first leg 2-0 but hit back to win the tie on home soil thanks to goals by Nikola Djurdic, Markus Rosenberg and Vladimir Rodic.

Malmo beat Rangers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League in 2011 and Deila is aware of the Swedish side’s qualities, saying after the win against Inverness: “It is a warning, of course, the players know that. But what we have to take with us is the first 70 minutes, which I thought were very good.”

Celtic are 1.62 beat Malmo while a victory for the Swedish side is available at 5.25 and the draw 3.80.

Meanwhile, Norwich City striker Gary Hooper is being linked with a return to Celtic.

Hooper, who scored 63 goals in 95 league games during a three-year stint in Glasgow, was on the bench for the Canaries’ 3-1 win at Sunderland on Saturday.