Celtic: Martin O’Neill ‘sad’ fears impact on derby fans at Rangers matches

Rangers had hosted Celtic the previous Sunday in a 2-2 draw in the Scottish Premiership, when away fans made up around 2,500 of the 50,000 spectators.

Danny Ruhl’s side are set to visit the 60,000-capacity Celtic Park again in the league this season, and when the two sides last met at Celtic Park in January, nearly 2,400 Rangers supporters were in attendance.

Celtic’s dedication on Sunday was similar to visiting fans at the Ibrox derby during O’Neill’s first spell in charge of Glasgow from 2000-05, when he won seven trophies with the club, including three league titles.

O’Neill added: “I wish there had been serious thought in looking at these particular matters, what happened, what could have been avoided, but I think honestly in terms of the atmosphere, there was nothing like it.”

“And I’m talking about going out there in the hostile atmosphere of Ibrox, where you actually get, in a strange way, a kind of intoxicating joy from it. Joy may be too strong a word, but it was really amazing.

“People will look at it and say you can’t monitor 7,000 people at Ibrox or Celtic Park.

“I don’t know the answer, but I still think something will be seriously lost again if this atmosphere continues throughout the match.”