The midfielder responded by barging his chest into Dougal before pushing his assistant Jim Lyon, while other players tried to restrain him.

Celtic club-mate Alan Thompson had been controversially dismissed earlier in the heated derby and Lennon still maintains his own red card was also unnecessary. But he concedes his reaction towards the officials was wrong.

If the Scottish Football Association take the same hard line shown to Saulius Mikoliunas of Hearts for his barge on assistant Andy Davis during a meeting with Rangers last season, Lennon could find himself facing a lengthy absence from action.

Mikoliunas received an eight-match ban, which was later reduced to six on appeal.

Lennon has now moved quickly to show remorse for his own actions towards the referee and has also apologised to the club‘s supporters.

He said: “I spoke to the referee about his performance and he then showed me a red card while I was shaking hands with the Rangers players.

“Clearly, although I felt the red card – my first in the SPL – was totally unjustified, I understand that my reaction was wrong.

“I apologise for my reaction towards the referee and his assistant and I also apologise to Celtic and our supporters.”

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell condemned the actions of his club captain.

But he also pleaded with the Parkhead faithful not to turn their back on an “excellent servant” for Celtic.

He told the club‘s official website, www.celticfc.net: “Neil has apologised and we know that his reaction was wrong.

“Any action the club takes will remain an internal matter. Neil has been an excellent servant to Celtic over the past five years and deserves the appropriate level of support at this time from both the club and its supporters.”