None of your business, O'Neill tells Yorkston

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has told Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston to mind his own business.

O’Neill is angered by Yorkston’s claims that Hoops striker Chris Sutton will not be welcome on Saturday to attend his club’s Bank of Scotland Premier League opener at Dunfermline, for which he is suspended.

The Parkhead forward incurred a four-game ban for two sendings off in the tunnel after the final game of last season at Kilmarnock.

Sutton also accused Dunfermline players of “lying down” to Rangers to help them win the title on goal difference at Ibrox.

The former Blackburn and Chelsea man was therefore handed a further one-match ban by the Scottish Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute.

He has decided not to appeal against the punishment which will see him miss the opening five games of the SPL campaign.

Responding to the suggestion that Sutton will not be welcome in Fife, O’Neill said: “John Yorkston has absolutely no right whatsoever to dictate to us what we should and shouldn’t do with our players.

“Whether Chris Sutton does or doesn’t go to East End Park is none of John Yorkston’s business.

“Will the same situation still apply if Chris Sutton was eligible to play, as he will be the next time we go to Dunfermline?”

Meanwhile, Celtic striker John Hartson has suffered a minor setback to his hopes of a return to full training.

The Wales international missed Celtic’s end-of-season run-in, including the UEFA Cup final, with a back problem which required an operation.

He was hoping to return in time for the friendly against Arsenal before the second leg of the Champions League second qualifier against FKB Kaunas tomorrow.

But after making steady progress in his rehabilitation, he now has a calf problem.

A statement on the club’s official website, www.celticfc.net, read: “He [Hartson] continues to progress well in his rehab work, with the club’s medical staff happy that his back has healed. But he has been suffering from stiffness in one of his calf muscles.”

There is better news for O’Neill on the fitness of Hartson’s strike partners Henrik Larsson and Sutton.

Former Sweden international Larsson will be rested against Kaunas after a hamstring problem but is expected to be fit to face Dunfermline.

Sutton may play against Kaunas despite an ankle knock.