Aleksandar Tonev insists he is innocent of racial abuse and appears to think he has already been cleared of the SFA charge, despite facing a delayed hearing on October 30.

The Bulgarian midfielder was accused by Aberdeen's Shay Logan after a game at Celtic Park last month, leading to a notice of complaint from the SFA's compliance officer. But the principal hearing, originally scheduled for yesterday, was delayed because of Tonev's inclusion in the Bulgarian national squad for their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Croatia and Norway.

However, the on-loan Aston Villa ace is adamant he has done nothing wrong.

Tonev said: "The racism case against me is now closed. The day after the accusation, people from Celtic went to the local football federation and they analysed it. Celtic had four different videos of the incident which proved there was no racial slurs. I have never had a problem with black players wherever I have been. Celtic are a big club and the atmosphere is wonderful there."