Celtic have announced that they will welcome 18,500 fans into Parkhead for their pre-season friendly clash aganst West Ham.

The Hoops housed 9,000 in their stadium last night for their Champions League qualifer against Midtjylland.

And club bosses say they are delighted to be welcoming more supporters back at the weekend.

A statement read: "Following today’s meeting with the local Safety Advisory Group, we have been informed that around 18,500 supporters will be permitted access to Saturday’s friendly against West Ham United at Celtic Park (July 24).   

"We are also encouraged by the indicative figure of around 24,500 for the subsequent home game in Paradise from the Safety Advisory Group. 

"We were delighted to have our supporters with us last night for the game against FC Midtjylland, and we really look forward to welcoming our fans once again for the match this Saturday.  

"We can assure our supporters we will be doing all we can to work closely with the relevant authorities and welcome our fans back in even greater numbers in the coming weeks.   

"Details on match ticket balloting for West Ham United will be shared in the next 24 hours, but in the meantime we ask that you continue to familiarise yourself with our new protocols for reduced capacity matches at Celtic Park – full details of which can be found on the Celtic website here.

"We want nothing more than to welcome as many fans back to the stadium as quickly as possible, and therefore appreciate your patience as we continue to work behind the scenes to make that happen."