Neil Lennon annoyed poppies row has overshadowed 9-0 Celtic win

Neil Lennon has admitted to being annoyed that off-field matters have overshadowed his team's 9-0 win over Aberdeen on Saturday. Just as the controversy surrounding Celtic and referees appears to be abating, the club have been forced to take action against supporters who unfurled banners during the Aberdeen game, protesting against the wearing of Remembrance Day poppies. Celtic admit to embarrassment over the affair and say they will ban those involved from Parkhead. "The club have taken a stance on what happened on Saturday and my standpoint is that I'm totally backing the club on that issue," Lennon, Celtic's manager, said. "We won 9-0 and then see headlines that deflected away totally from the team's performance. That irritated me a little bit but that's just part of the make-up of the Old Firm. There always seems to be another agenda – the football seems to be a side issue for the majority of the time. Newspapers and websites seem to be filled with all the other nonsense." Lennon added, though, that he would still like an apology from the referee Dougie McDonald. The official overturned a penalty award to Celtic during a game with Dundee United last month but lied about the circumstances surrounding that move to his supervisor and Lennon. Asked whether that apology would be forthcoming, Lennon said: "I would like to think so, out of professional respect more than anything. I don't like being lied to." Tomorrow night Lennon will come face to face with an old adversary as Celtic travel to Hearts. Rudi Skacel, back for a second spell at the Edinburgh club, was photographed spitting at Lennon – then a Celtic player – during a game in 2006. Celtic's manager says he will shake Skacel's hand if the opportunity arises. "It's done now, it's four years ago," Lennon said of the spitting incident. "He has been down in England, he's come back, he's made a very good start to his career again here. He's a big favourite of the fans and he's a player we need to keep an eye on. But as far as personal vendettas go that's long gone." A Celtic delegation, including the chief executive, Peter Lawwell, has travelled to Mexico to study the methods and set-up at Santos Laguna. It was revealed in September that talks between the two clubs were taking place with a view to setting up a formal partnership, linked to both commercial activities and the potential movement of players between Scotland and central America.