Referee that Neil Lennon called out handed crucial Celtic clash

Celtic travel to Ayrshire to face Kilmarnock in what could be a pivotal day in the Scottish Premiership title race. In a double header, Martin O’Neill’s side take on Killie while Hearts travel to Ibrox to take on Rangers.

Celtic need to put pressure on both Hearts and Rangers by putting 11th placed Killie to the sword; however, it will be a tough game as it often is at Rugby Park.

The SFA have confirmed the appointment of referee Duncan Nicolson for the clash at Rugby Park.

Nicholson has taken charge of one Celtic game this season, a 1-0 win over Dundee before Martin O’Neill made way for Wilfried Nancy’s disastrous spell.

Scott Anderson and Alastair Taylor will assist Nicolson.

Meanwhile, Greg Aitken is on VAR at Clydesdale House with Chris Graham assisting.

Nicolson may not be the most notable referee but he was recently heavily criticised by Celtic legend Neil Lennon. The Irishman criticised the whistleblower to the BBC after a poor display in Dunfermline’s game against Ross County back in October.

“I haven’t been this angry with the officials for a long, long time.

“And even at the end I’ve had to go into his office and speak about the way the assistant linesman made disparaging comments to one of my coaching staff.

“If this is the level we are getting to we are in trouble.”

“We are getting done by referees and particularly that one.

“I’ve already asked the head of referees – I don’t want him refereeing any of our games again.

“He’s either incompetent or I don’t know what the word I’m looking for is…

“I’ll leave to the club to report back to Willie. I’ve been in the game a long time and that attitude from a certain individual is unacceptable.”

Introducing The Celtic Star App and our new ad-free Premium Service...

Go ad-free on The Celtic Star, get a FREE trial period to try it out. Also download our new App – available for both Apple and Android – and get the best Celtic content on your phone without fighting through pop-up ads and being forced to watch videos.

Our new PREMIUM service comes with a free seven-day trial so you can look before you book. If you are happy to continue the price will be just 99p per month or £9.99 for the year. For that you get an AD-FREE SITE plus access to our premium content, and you’ll also help us make The Celtic Star even better and less reliant on advertising revenues, allowing us to be more focused on publishing the best Celtic features on the internet.

Click HERE to access your FREE trial. We think you’ll like it! We’re Obsessed with Celtic and we think you are too! Join us hand in hand...