Celtic's Virgil van Dijk and Dundee United's Paul Paton win red card appeals

Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk has had the red card he received against Dundee United rescinded and is clear to play in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final.

The Dutch centre-back was sent off during the Hoops' 1-1 draw with United in their Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Tannadice on Sunday.

Van Dijk saw red in the first half after tangling with Calum Butcher, although Butcher's team-mate Paul Paton was dismissed instead by referee Craig Thomson.

United appealed against Paton's sending off due to mistaken identity and Celtic followed that by lodging their own appeal over Van Dijk's red card.

Both appeals have been successful and the suspensions have been overturned, meaning the pair are free to play when Celtic take on United again at Hampden Park on Sunday and in the Scottish Cup replay at Celtic Park three days later.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila told his club's official Twitter feed: “I’m very happy and I’m very happy for Virgil that he can play.

“The most important thing for me is consistency and I think the refs do a good job.

"Sometimes they do a bad one but if you’re going to go back and look then you have to be consistent."

United striker Nadir Ciftci was also cleared after being offered a two-match ban for allegedly kicking Celtic skipper Scott Brown in the head. The panel found the case "not proven".

It was the second week running that Ciftci faced a judicial panel, having successfully challenged a two-match ban following a clash with Inverness defender Gary Warren.

The forward will still miss the League Cup final after picking up his second booking of the competition in the semi-final win over Aberdeen, but will be free to play in the cup replay.