Celtic to contest Brown's red card in derby

CELTIC will resume their ongoing spat with the Scottish Football Association about officials after the Parkhead club confirmed they would appeal the red card given to Scott Brown during yesterday's Old Firm defeat by Rangers at Ibrox.

The Hoops' captain was sent packing by Dougie McDonald in the 65th minute for tangling with Rangers midfielder Kyle Lafferty, who escaped unpunished.

The visitors looked as if they would hold on with ten men but Gers substitute Maurice Edu all but ended Celtic's Clydesdale Bank Premier League title hopes with an injury-time winner.

Walter Smith's side are ten points ahead of the Hoops with a game in hand and, according to Celtic boss Tony Mowbray, as far as the title race is concerned, "it's fair to say it's there for Rangers to lose".

However, once again the thorny issue of Celtic and match officials will be examined.

The build-up to the game was dominated by the revelation from Parkhead, through an unknown source, they were aggrieved by decisions they believe had gone against them in matches this season – including the two previous games against Rangers.

The SFA and Celtic confirmed meetings have already taken place but Brown's sending-off will re-ignite the debate.

Parkhead boss Mowbray denied he would have to exert a calming influence on the fiery midfielder, whom he only recently made his captain. He said: "I'm not there to change Scott Brown from the combative footballer he is, that's what makes him the player he is.

"He hasn't got a case to answer with me."

Mowbray tried hard to refrain from criticising McDonald, who booked Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra and Hoops striker Marc-Antoine Fortune early in the game and then ruled out a goal by Edu for handball by his Ibrox team-mate Kenny Miller.

However, asked if Bougherra was perhaps fortunate to escape further punishment after subsequently committing several more fouls, the former Parkhead defender said: "I don't want to comment, I will get into trouble but the referee gave himself a difficult job with early bookings.

"There was a sense early on that the game wasn't going to finish with 22 players on the field but maybe that was his tactic, to stamp his authority on the game, but I think he gave himself a few problems.

"But there are probably one or two challenges worse than the one he (Bougherra] got his booking for.

"There were silly things like a booking for Fortune for a handball in the first few minutes then he disallows a goal for a handball.

"Why isn't there a booking for both handballs? Is he trying to say that one was deliberate and one wasn't? If it isn't deliberate then it shouldn't be handball, so there were a few inconsistencies."

Meanwhile, Edu is hoping his dramatic winner will act as the catalyst which allows him to finally kick-start his season.

The midfielder spent the first half of the campaign recovering from an injury picked up as Rangers clinched the title at Tannadice in May and has played just a handful of games so far this term.

With the World Cup finals looming this summer, the American is desperate to force his way back into the reckoning. And Edu insists his last-gasp goal will spur him on more than ever.

"I've had kind of a rough season with all the injuries," he said.

"When I come into the team, I'm just trying to get as many minutes as possible to get back to top form.

To score the winning goal in an Old Firm match is just an unbelievable feeling."

Edu came off the bench to replace the injured Lee McCulloch, who is likely to be forced out of the Scotland squad for Wednesday's international against the Czech Republic with an ankle injury.