Celtic captain Scott Brown has hit out at the Hibernian supporter who confronted Rangers captain James Tavernier at Easter Road on Friday night.

Brown claimed the incident as Rangers drew 1-1 with Hibs was a “disgrace” and he warned that the current rise in hooligan behaviour at Scottish grounds will inevitably lead to a player eventually being hit with a weapon on the pitch if authorities do not clamp down on the problem.

There have been a spate of incidents this season involving coins thrown at players and officials while Celtic winger Scott Sinclair had a glass bottle thrown at him at Easter Road last Saturday night.

Brown himself was at the centre of an incident at Ibrox in 2017 during a 5-1 Celtic win when a Rangers supporter confronted him on the pitch, something he acknowledged is a surreal distraction from the game.

“It is a disgrace,” he said. “You can’t have fans run on the park and try to hit players or kick players or kick the ball. As Leeann [Dempster] says, it is not really a fan it is a hooligan more than anything.

“It is last minute. You just don’t realise it is happening when someone runs up to you. Lucky enough they don’t have something to hit you with because that is going to be the next thing – someone is going to run on the park and hit someone with something. We have got to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

And Brown’s frustration has been exacerbated by the fact he feels the incidents have detracted from the quality and excitement that the league has had to offer this season.

“Usually it doesn’t happen that often in Scotland,” he said. “Out football couldn’t be in a better place right now. We have done well in the Champions League and the Europa League and we just need to get back to focussing on the football instead of individuals killing the game and making it more about them than it is about the teams.

“Especially when someone is getting a bottle of Buckfast thrown at them. If that hits someone on the head then the game ends up getting called off. You don’t want to see that. You don’t want to see people getting hurt.”

Meanwhile, Brown was relaxed about yesterday’s stalemate with Aberdeen which ended Celtic’s unblemished home league record this season.

"It was a wee bit frustrating,” he lamented. "We made it more into a battle than anything else. We didn't play our usual style it's a point and we are still eight clear. We have had a fantastic run in 2019 and this just continues it.

"It was always going to be hard after the last few weeks with a manager coming in and one leaving. For us, it's just about the performance. It wasn't up to scratch and we didn't create as much as we usually do. We didn't get on the front foot.

"The gaffer has been brilliant since he came in. He has spoken well and been really positive. He will continue to do that. He wants us to play the same way but also be direct and create chances. We were just a little bit sloppy but as the manager said, it's been a rollercoaster couple of weeks.

"Hopefully we are now over that and we go again against Dundee.”