GLASGOW: Neil Lennon was left fuming after a late red card for midfielder Scott Brown in his side’s 1-0 win over Motherwell ruled the Celtic captain out of Sunday’s Old Firm derby.
A wonder goal from Paddy McCourt on Wednesday moved the Hoops to the summit of the Scottish Premier League but Brown’s sending off left a sour taste in the mouth of his manager.
Brown, who had received his first booking just after the break, was shown a second yellow by referee Stephen Finnie for sliding in with his studs showing on Stephen Hammell in stoppage time.
The Celtic captain will now miss the match away to fierce rivals Rangers at Ibrox this weekend and his manager was clearly angry at the decision.
“If you see again he has done everything he can to pull out the tackle and Hammell’s actually kicked him on the follow through,” Lennon said.
“He’s gone in, he’s pulling away and then he’s slipped so it’s totally accidental and I’m very disappointed with that decision amongst many I was disappointed with.
“I thought he was trying to pull out of it so I don’t know if he was making a challenge or not. His left foot has come away and he’s actually carrying the weight to avoid any contact but the referee has deemed it as a second yellow and we’re pretty upset about it.
“It’s two yellow cards so I don’t know if we can appeal it or not.”
With Rangers’ game away to St Johnstone on Wednesday having been postponed due to a frozen pitch, Celtic will go into the new year and Sunday’s clash against Rangers one point clear of their fellow Glasgow giants, albeit having played two games more.
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