BOBBY Madden will referee Sunday’s match between Celtic and Rangers.
It’s the first time that the Lanarkshire based official has refereed this Glasgow derby fixture.
Madden is on the elite FIFA list and turned full-time last summer which means that he is wholly dependant on refereeing for his income.
In his last Celtic fixture the hoops enjoyed a 4-0 win over Hearts on January 29, at the weekend he was in charge of Kilmarnock’s 2-1 defeat at home to Motherwell.
When Madden took charge of Celtic’s 2-1 home win over Dundee in December the match threw up some incredible statistics. Despite being well ahead on shots at goal (20-5), shots on target 15-4), saves (1-5) and blocks (0-7) Celtic were only awarded 6 free-kicks while Dundee had 18 free-kicks.
After his nightmare performance in the Sevco v Hamilton Scottish Cup tie John Beaton will be the fourth official at the Ross County v Kilmarnock match on Saturday.
Celtic go into the Sunday’s match with a 33 point lead over Graham Murty’s side, a draw would put the title out of reach for the Ibrox club.
In the three previous derby matches this season Celtic have won 5-1 at Celtic Park, 1-0 at Hampden and 2-1 at Ibrox with the hoops unbeaten in domestic football all season.