Lennon plays cool on McCoist clash

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has played down his heated clash with Rangers assistant Ally McCoist after their 1-0 Scottish Cup win on Wednesday.

The victorious manager was shaking hands with his opposing assistant coach following an Old Firm derby that saw three red cards issued to Rangers players Steven Whittaker, Madjid Bougherra and El Hadji Diouf when the pair broke out into a heated argument and had to be separated.

Lennon said, however, that the clash was not personal, but merely a build up of the tension following a physical Old Firm clash.

“Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, things can be said,” Lennon told Celtic’s official website.

“However, we were still able to sit down after the game and, as far as we are concerned, the matter is closed.”

“It is a passionate game and both of us want our team to win.”

Their clash was not the only concern for the Scottish Football Association to emerge from the match, with likely repercussions to come out of unruly crowd behaviour at Celtic Park in which 34 arrests were made.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond declared a summit to discuss the future of Old Firm derbies and how best to quell the inevitable outbursts from passionate fans of the two Scottish powerhouses.

There were 229 arrests made in the aftermath of their previous clash, on February 20.