ROW REF IN CHARGE AT IBROX

BOBBY MADDEN will be the match official for Celtic’s crucial Premiership visit to Ibrox on January 2.

Neil Lennon’s men have three games in hand as they play catch up with Steven Gerrard’s side and the SFA have appointed one of their most experienced refs for what is certain to be a no-holds-barred confrontation, according to the Daily Record.

The whistler was last in charge of the Glasgow fixture in September last year when the champions triumphed 2-0 in Govan with goals from Odsonne Edouard and Jonny Hayes.

Madden also red-carded Jordan Jones in the fading moments of the game for a wild lunge at the Hoops’ on-loan right-back Moritz Bauer.

The experienced referee was the man in control in March 2019 when Neil Lennon’s men triumphed 2-1 in another explosive encounter that saw Alfredo Morelos dismissed after smashing his elbow into Scott Brown’s face in an off-the-ball incident.

The Celtic skipper was also punched in the face by Ryan Kent after James Forrest had struck the late winning goal. Remarkably, none of the match officials spotted the moment and the Englishman escaped immediate punishment. However, he was later hit by a two-match ban after retrospective action from the SFA.

In the mayhem that followed the Parkhead clash, Andy Halliday, who was a Scottish Cup Final loser in the Hearts team against the Hoops at the weekend, was also shown a red card following gestures after the full-time whistle.