Lennon plays down referee spat

Neil Lennon has played down his bust-up with Spanish referee Iturralde Gonzalez during Celtic’s friendly at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday night.

The Hoops boss clashed with the official after 35 minutes of the match at San Mames which was staged to raise funds for local youth teams in Bilbao and ended in a goalless draw.

Lennon, who is currently serving an eight-match Scottish Football Association touchline ban, was ordered from the dugout by Gonzalez and was escorted to the stand by a security guard.

It was reported that Gonzalez revealed he will not forward a report to Hampden but the Celtic boss claimed the Spanish official over-reacted in any case.

Speaking on his Twitter site he said: “Ref over fussy as I disputed a free-kick – anyway we played some scintillating stuff against a class side and we should have won.

“Amazing game. We played fantastic football. The young boys were immense while senior guys played superbly, so proud.”