Tony Mowbray has spoken out over referee Dougie McDonald’s verdict not to overturn Scott Brown’s Old Firm derby red card, saying that it was a “political decision”. McDonald upheld Brown’s three match suspension for a tussle with Rangers’ Kyle Lafferty after Celtic appealed, saying that he was “content” with his decision.

Speaking on Friday, Mowbray said he felt that, because referee Craig Thomson admitted after Celtic’s 2-1 defeat at Ibrox in the first Old Firm derby of the season that he got a penalty decision wrong, as well as a "general consensus" after the 1-1 draw at Parkhead in January that Marc-Antoine Fortune’s disallowed goal should have stood, that it would have been too much to ask for the SFA to admit that a referee had made yet another high profile mistake in an Old Firm derby.

McDonald had the choice to refer the matter to a Review Panel if he felt he may have made the wrong call. Instead, the official chose to stick by Brown’s dismissal, leaving Celtic with no further right of appeal.

Mowbray was unhappy that Celtic could take the matter no further and brought into question the disciplinary process in Scottish Football.

"Having watched it back, my own personal view is that it wasn't a sending off,” said Mowbray. "But was it an appeal? We didn't appear to get an appeal in the true sense of the word.

"The referee who made the decision on the day looks at it and decides if he gets it right, that's the end of the matter.

"I was unaware of the appeals decision in Scotland and it seems a strange appeals system.

"It seems strange that we can't go to someone else and look at it and make a decision, not from a referee's angle, not from the club's angle but just an unbiased look. It seems a strange decision but we have to abide by it."

Celtic had issued a statement on their website immediately after McDonald’s decision was made on Thursday, in which they expressed their “amazement” at the call to throw out Brown’s appeal.

The statement read: "Given the general consensus that the initial decision was incorrect and the availability of supporting video evidence, at the very least, the incident should have been referred to a separate Review Panel.

“Naturally, we are very disappointed that this simple opportunity was not taken.

"Clearly, it is also very disappointing that Scottish Football Association rules do not permit this decision to be appealed.

"We are amazed at this decision and believe it is the wrong one”