Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers says he is comfortable with John Beaton being given Sunday's huge Old Firm clash with Rangers at Ibrox and hailed the referee as one of the best Scotland has to offer.
It comes just over a month after the Irishman's stinging criticism of Beaton and fellow whistler Don Robertson during his side's 2-0 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle. Rodgers was incensed by the decision to send off Hoops winger Yang Hyun-jun for a challenge on Jambos full back Alex Cochrane, with on field referee Robertson upgrading the initial yellow card shown to the South Korean after consulting Beaton who was on VAR duty in Gorgie.
The Celtic manager branded the pair as 'incompetent' in the immediate aftermath of the defeat and was later handed a one game touchline ban for his comments. But ahead of the mammoth meeting with the Light Blues at the top of the Scottish Premiership this weekend, Rodgers insists he has no issues with Beaton being the man in the black in the potential title decider.
The Celtic boss said: "These games are for the top referees and I’ve always said John Beaton is one of the top referees in the country. He has been allocated the game and I am comfortable with that.
"He has done games there that I have been involved in before. My point about him was on that one game, not John Beaton's career as a referee. My gripe was on that day. They will feel that they needed to appoint someone who is experienced and John is one of the top referees in the country."
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