Celtic have turned up the heat ahead of a potentially-fraught League Cup final by slamming the SFA ’ s decision to let Dundee United midfielder Calum Butcher play in Sunday ’ s Hampden showpiece . The Englishman escaped a red card after referee Craig Thomson sent off team-mate Paul Paton instead in an apparent case of mistaken identity during a stormy Scottish Cup quarter-final . That decision will be the subject of an appeal tribunal on Wednesday , when Celtic will also challenge the red administered to defender Virgil van Dijk following his clash with Butcher last Sunday . Celtic have slammed the SFA ’ s decision to let Dundee United 's Calum Butcher play in the League Cup final . Celtic will challenge the red shown to defender Virgil van Dijk following his clash with Butcher last Sunday . United ’ s Nadir Ciftci – already banned from the Hampden showpiece – faces a further two-match suspension for violent conduct after kicking out at Parkhead skipper Scott Brown . But Celtic are furious that Butcher will be free to play in the final , even if Paton is found to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice . A club statement read : ‘ It seems completely illogical and fundamentally unfair that , in an incident where mistaken identity has been claimed , the Dundee United player now identified as being involved appears to have no case to answer – and would be available to play in the League Cup Final and the Scottish Cup replay between the teams – while Celtic ’ s player ( van Dijk ) may potentially miss both of those matches . ‘ Celtic and Virgil van Dijk maintain their position that no red-card offence was committed by Virgil . Virgil will appear at Hampden to put his case on Thursday and we will fully support him in this appeal. ’ United refused to comment publicly on Tuesday night , but are privately furious at some of Celtic ’ s comments . Brown , meanwhile , has escaped retrospective punishment for his tackle on Ciftci . The United striker lashed out in retaliation at the Scotland midfielder before van Dijk and United ’ s Paton were controversially dismissed by Thomson on the advice of assistant Graham Chambers . Celtic 's Scott Brown accused Dundee United forward Nadir Ciftci of 'blatantly ' kicking him in the head . There will be no SFA action against Tannadice winger Aiden Connolly , however , despite claims by Celtic the youngster dived to win a penalty in the Scottish Cup stalemate . Expressing relief that Brown has been cleared to play on Sunday , team-mate Stefan Johansen said the SFA had reached the right decision in that regard . ‘ I saw the tackle from Broony , ’ said the Norwegian . ‘ It was just a tackle and everything else was just a lot of players around it . ‘ He would have been a big loss - but I didn ’ t think that was going to happen . He is the captain and means a lot to the team . We could see how important he is to the team when he was out at the start of the season . He ’ s a great player and a fantastic captain . He gives it out but he takes it back . That is part of his game . It ’ s not only him in this league who makes hard tackles. ’ The failure to penalise Brown ’ s challenge was blamed by United boss Jackie McNamara for sparking the incident which saw Ciftci lash out with his boot . Offered a fast-track two-match ban by the SFA compliance officer , Ciftci has until 3pm today to respond to the complaint . If he declines , a Fast Track Tribunal will convene tomorrow . Failure to win his appeal would see the striker miss the Scottish Cup replay with Celtic and the subsequent Premiership clash between the sides . Despite rising tensions , Johansen believes the League Cup final will not go the same way as the Scottish Cup tie – which was the first of what will now be four games between the teams in a short period . ‘ It was a weird game , with three red cards and two penalties , ’ he said . ‘ It affects the game , of course , but I think it will be different this time . I don ’ t think what happened on Sunday will affect the final . It ’ s a new game and a trophy is at stake for the winners . ‘ I am just focusing on ourselves . If we go out and play the way we can then we have a great chance . ’
Celtic will challenge Virgil van Dijk red card following Calum Butcher clash . Bhoys face Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park .