Rash tackle means ban for Commons

Celtic midfielder Kris Commons has been hit with a two-match ban after being sent off in Sunday’s disappointing defeat by Hearts.

The Scotland international was shown a straight red card by referee Craig Thomson in the 65th minute for a dangerous tackle on Adrian Mrowiec.

Celtic were already trailing to Rudi Skacel’s strike at that stage and Ryan Stevenson made sure of the points with an 81st-minute goal.

Under the revised SFA disciplinary procedures, the 28-year-old is ineligible for Celtic’s next two domestic matches against Kilmarnock (15 Oct) and Aberdeen (23 Oct) having been dismissed for ‘serious foul play’.

Commons had not featured in any of Celtic’s four matches prior to the trip to Gorgie and now faces another frustrating spell on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Beram Kayal last night deepened Celtic’s gloom by admitting he doesn’t know when he will be fit again after suffering a thigh injury.

The Israeli playmaker was missing in the defeat at Tynecastle, having picked up the knock during the 1-1 draw against Udinese in the Europa League.

Celtic are already struggling with injuries with Scott Brown, Emilio Izaguirre, Kelvin Wilson and Joe Ledley out. Now Kayal – who is supposed to be on international duty with Israel this week – is unsure when he will be back playing.

He said: “I don’t know how serious it is. I felt a lot of pain in my leg after the match against Udinese and I wasn’t able to train. I told our doctor this and I knew I wasn’t able to play against Hearts. So I stayed at home and watched the game instead.I will have to get a scan and see how serious the injury to my muscle is.”