Ronny Deila, the Celtic manager, said he was unaware of any bad feeling between his club and Aberdeen last night despite the Aleksandar Tonev race row which overshadows tomorrow's match at Pittodrie.
Derek McInnes, though, his counterpart at Aberdeen, expressed his disappointment that Celtic had not kept a 'dignified silence' after the verdict.
Deila will talk to Tonev before deciding whether the Bulgarian should feature in the lunchtime game, having received a seven-game ban from the Scottish Football Association for racist abuse of Aberdeen's black defender, Shay Logan. The ban has been suspended while Tonev goes through an appeal process which Celtic have supported. Both Deila and captain Scott Brown have said they were certain of Tonev's innocence, a line which has irritated Aberdeen.
McInnes was adamant that Celtic were wrong to claim they knew the Bulgarian, on loan from Aston Villa, had not uttered the words "black c***", which Logan accused him of having used during a league game in September.
"We're eager to get it finalised and dealt with," said McInnes. "We thought it had been dealt with: he was found guilty of an offence. We felt Shay was vindicated with that and we support him wholeheartedly. We've kept a dignified silence on it, as we were requested to do. But it hasn't always been the case coming from Celtic. From our point of view, we want to concentrate on the game.
"It's obviously a factor in the game as it's the first time we have played them since but hopefully it's just a minor one. We thought we had drawn a line under it when he was found guilty of the offence but, with Celtic appealing, the process is ongoing. We just need to see what happens but, hopefully, we can concentrate on the football on Sunday because the game itself is enough to get excited about."
McInnes insisted he understood Celtic defending their player and Brown backing his team-mate in the row, but it had been wrong for them to say they were certain Tonev said nothing.
He was baffled about why the Bulgarian FA had commented, saying the verdict and penalty was biased and exaggerated.
"I'm not surprised that people want
to defend players," said McInnes. "But it's easy for the Bulgarian FA to defend a player from afar. Whether that is ill-advised or not
is another thing. Scott Brown's comments are defending his team-mate and I get that. Players will always defend their team-mates but his comments and his manager's comments to say that they know nothing was said is wrong.
"None of us know but we have tried to respect the process. I commented on it after our game at Ross County before an appeal had been lodged because I was asked
about it. We didn't make a statement as a club before the hearing as we respected the process and felt vindicated with the whole thing. We thought we could move on from
it but with Celtic appealing it's still ongoing and I think for everybody concerned it would be good to get it sorted one way or another. But there is still a lot to like about the match on Sunday and hopefully we can enjoy that."
McInnes revealed that Logan was unconcerned about being at the centre
of the controversy. "Shay's been involved
in nine games since and his performances have been more than decent. We fully support him and like everything else we feel as though we want to show that support.
We have tried to do that in a quiet way but make no mistake we are fully behind him."
Deila will take a team to Pittodrie for the first time, having faced Aberdeen only in that 2-1 win in September. "I don't think there
will be bad feeling. I have seen Scottish people as friendly people and passionate
as well. There will be a lot of tension and passion but I think it is going to be friendly."
Tonev was left out of Celtic's 1-1 draw with Astra in Romania on Thursday night
for football reasons, said Deila, but he may return at Pittodrie. "We will see. I haven't decided. I haven't spoken to the players about it but we are going to support Aleks.
I have said many times that it is word against word. Of course, I will speak to him."
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