Celtic’s controversial 2-1 victory came courtesy of a penalty referee Ian Fyfe gave for a Stuart Duff tackle on Stilian Petrov — a decision Ian thought was correct.

What he was not happy about was the failure of the whistler, making his first Parkhead appearance, to spot Bobo Balde’s blatant first-half handball.

“I’ve looked at footage of the game now and have to say Celtic’s penalty probably was one. Petrov has gone down easily, but he’s been clever and I do not blame him,” said Ian.

“I have to be honest and say that if I was his manager, I would be looking for a penalty in that situation, so I can have no complaints about that. That doesn’t change the fact at the other end Balde’s handball was a stonewall pen. You saw by our players’ reaction, their players’ reaction, and even the fans behind the goal that everyone thought it was.”

And Ian is in no doubt that, against any other opposition at any other ground, his side would have been awarded a penalty.

Again though he stressed he was not having a go at the referee. “Our referees are under huge pressure at Rangers and Celtic, and I think the answer is to use foreign referees for games there.

“We tend to think in this country the whole world knows about Celtic and Rangers, but that is not completely true. I think referees from abroad would have a different perspective if they were doing games there. We’ve now been denied clear penalties on our last visits to Ibrox and Parkhead and something should be done. Foreign referees could be the answer.”

Ian was keen that his words should not be taken as sour grapes. He felt his team should have at least drawn, but had nothing but admiration for the way Celtic fought back to turn the game on its head.

“You are talking about a quality team with some top-class players, but what impressed me about them most was that at no time did they give up. They are going to be very impressive champions this season.”

Meanwhile, Billy Dodds’ red card for two bookings will see him miss this weekend’s trip to Hearts automatically and then the home clash with Rangers on February 29 because he has broken the 16-penalty point barrier.

At Dundee, injured defender Brent Sancho has missed out on a trip back to his native Trinidad to play for the national team in a friendly against a Brazilian select in Port of Spain.

Sancho has been troubled by a groin problem and is a doubt for this weekend’s home clash with Livingston.

Mark Fotheringham, meanwhile, will not be fit for Scotland’s U/21 friendly against Hungary at the City Stadium, Livingston, on Wednesday. A poisoned toe meant the midfielder was left on the bench at the weekend and, with his condition showing no improvement as yet, Dundee have asked that he be released from international duty.

“Mark needed an injection to play against Dunfermline and would need another one for Wednesday. His toe is badly infected, so we have asked for him to be excused, though he may still have to travel to see the medical people at the U/21s,” explained Dundee team boss Jim Duffy.