Celtic captain Scott Brown has claimed that criticism aimed at manager Ronny Deila this season has been "harsh".

The Bhoys failed to make it through the Champions League qualifiers and went on to finish bottom of their Europa League group, not managing to win any of their six games in the competition.

Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to struggling Motherwell increased the pressure on Deila's shoulders, but with Celtic still sitting top of the table having played a game fewer than their nearest rivals Aberdeen, Brown does not believe that Deila deserves to be criticised.

"I think it is harsh when you are top of the league and your manager is top of the league. Everyone has their own opinion. We need to kick on and at the end of the season prove them all wrong," he is quoted as saying by PA.

"We have had one poor result and another one a couple of weeks ago against Kilmarnock but if we go on a run of five, six games I am sure it will all be forgotten about. The manager did a good job last season. We were really unlucky not to get the treble, just a little bit of luck here and there would have been nice or a couple of good refereeing decisions. This season we have had a slow start but we need to kick on now.

"Everyone expects us to run away with it but it is never that easy, whether Rangers are in the league or not. It is always hard when teams play against us at Celtic Park, they just defend and try to catch you on the counter. But we could go the rest of the season without getting beat again. We haven't played well enough all season but we know we can kick on and we need to kick on."

Celtic will look to return to winning ways when they take on Hearts on Sunday.