Martin O'Neill revealed that Celtic received a "general behaviour" warning from Police Scotland prior to their League Cup quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday. This match will see no Hoops fans in the 50,000-capacity stadium due to a ticket allocation dispute between the two Glasgow clubs.

The tension stems from the previous Old Firm clash in March, which ended in chaos as Celtic triumphed over Rangers in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. As a result of the unrest, both teams have been mandated to play their next home Scottish Cup matches behind closed doors and face a £100,000 compensation fee payable to the away team in their next respective fixtures.

O'Neill, now 74, expressed mixed feelings about the absence of Celtic fans, stating, "it'll be a bit strange not having the (Celtic) fans in but I'm nervously and excitedly looking forward to it; it's a great fixture." He discussed the police visit, emphasizing the importance of maintaining positive conduct:

We had the police come in today... just reminders of our behaviour, which I think is actually a timely reminder.

• He noted, "You don't want any sort of punch-ups for a start; secondly, you don't want too excessive celebrations."

On the team front, O'Neill confirmed that midfielder Mika Baur would train on Saturday after missing Friday's session due to a knock. He remains undecided on whether late summer signing Sam Johnstone will retain his spot in goal or if Viljami Sinisalo will return as the starter. O'Neill remarked, "It's great to have the two of them. Big Viljami has done exceptionally well for us..." as he prepares for the critical match against their rivals.