Craig Gordon insists Dundee United ’ s Ryan McGowan will revel in his role as Public Enemy No 1 at Celtic Park on Saturday . Speaking as the clubs prepare to meet for the fourth time in a fortnight , the Parkhead goalkeeper played down talk of a running feud after the tally of red cards rose to six in three games during Wednesday night ’ s ill-tempered Scottish Cup replay . Celtic striker Anthony Stokes was dismissed just moments before McGowan ’ s sending off for an uncompromising challenge on Liam Henderson , which was later dubbed ‘ dangerous ’ and ‘ career-threatening ’ by Ronny Deila . Goalkeeper Craig Gordon has played down talk of a running feud with Dundee United . However , the Australian international will play in Saturday ’ s SPFL clash after appealing his red card – and is certain to face a hostile reception from the Parkhead crowd . A former Hearts club-mate of the full-back , however , Gordon believes McGowan will be unfazed , saying : ‘ I know Ryan , and he will probably enjoy it . ‘ He ’ s that type of boy . He wears his heart on his sleeve and he goes out and gives 100 per cent . ‘ If it is the case he is booed , I don ’ t think he will be overawed by that . ‘ He was in the youth team when I was at Hearts . I never played with him . But I knew of him coming through . ‘ It is something he will have to deal with , and I am sure he will . ‘ But , as far as the players are concerned , there is nothing in that . We will just concentrate on ourselves. ’ Ryan McGowan is sent off by referee Calum Murray after he scythed down Celtic sub Liam Henderson . McGowan used Twitter to apologise to Henderson in the aftermath of the game , but angered Celtic supporters by appealing a red card many believed to be clear-cut . ‘ He likes a tackle , ’ added Gordon . ‘ He has no problem with that . ‘ Perhaps he maybe just lost the head for a split second with the way the games have been going . ‘ And that ’ s a difficult thing to actually put up with if you are losing a couple of games to the same opposition and somebody is trying a bit of skill to beat you in the corner . ‘ It takes a lot to keep a calm head . But both sets of players are going to have to do that to make sure we keep a full complement of players on the pitch . ‘ There is nothing there in terms of between the players . But , during the 90 minutes , both teams want to win desperately. ’ McGowan took to social media again yesterday to refer indirectly to the furore , Tweeting : ‘ Heard it ’ s very “ dangerous ” possibly “ career threatening ” for ur eyes to watch the eclipse without glasses ! Lucky I have mine with me. ’ No fan of Twitter , Gordon insists he hadn ’ t seen it , but grinned : ‘ He has always been a confident lad , and that has probably helped him . ‘ Hearts fans still hold him in very high regard , probably just as much for his Twitter account as for his football . Deila celebrates at full-time as his side reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 victory . ‘ But , that ’ s just part and parcel of modern football , I suppose. ’ Playing down predictions of more red cards or settled scores as Celtic seek to keep Aberdeen at bay in the title race , Gordon dismissed talk of a feud between the two sets of players . ‘ I don ’ t think so , ’ he said . ‘ Fortunately , I ’ ve not been involved in any of the incidents . ‘ Our players have been fine after the games . There ’ s not really been anything too much . ‘ There have been a few isolated incidents on the pitch . But I don ’ t think there has been anything beyond that , certainly not from my point of view . ‘ It ’ s up to us as players to keep it under control and make sure we are pointing our aggression in the right way and keeping a lid on it . ‘ It ’ s the fourth game and it will probably form a similar pattern , in that we will have to win the battle if we are going to win the game. ’ United midfielder Paul Paton , accused of using an elbow on Stokes before the Celtic striker ’ s red card on Wednesday , turned up the heat by suggesting the Parkhead side have been ‘ manipulating ’ referees for years . Responding by pointing to the leniency shown towards Calum Butcher and Nadir Ciftci by the SFA , however , Gordon said : ‘ Maybe there were times when decisions went against us at Hearts . But I can ’ t think there was ever a time where I thought that was the case . ‘ I didn ’ t tend to think that way . ‘ United had a few decent decisions in the last few games , as well , so if they want to start bringing up one incident against the other , there ’ s so many talking points in the last couple of games , whether it be sending offs or penalties . ‘ There is a case to be made for a number of decisions going opposite ways for both sides . ’
Celtic face Dundee United for fourth time in a fortnight on last three . Six players have been sent off in Saturday meetings between teams . Ryan McGowan was dismissed for rash challenge on Liam Henderson .