Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell refused to get drawn into a war of words after Rangers accused their Old Firm rivals of a "sickening and shameful display of outright sectarian hatred".

Celtic's 5-1 victory in Saturday's Glasgow derby was marred when Hoops fans hung effigies up from the Parkhead stands to mark Rangers' first visit for four years.

Underneath a banner reading, "This is it Bhoys, this is war", two blow-up dolls - one wearing a Rangers scarf, the other an Orange sash - with nooses wrapped round their necks and arms tied behind their backs were strung up from the upper tier.

Rangers supporters group 'Club 1872' called for the entire Hoops faithful to be barred from Ibrox when the teams next meet and Ibrox officials said they shared the disgust felt by their fans following the shocking display.

But Lawwell insists he will deal with the issue behind closed doors, telling talkSport: "What we won't do is to get into a public spat or tit-for-tat situation.

"We try to operate to the highest possible standards. We will deal with these matters as we always do in a professional and private manner.

"But if there is anyone found in any way behaving in a manner that we don't like then we will take the action.

"But I don't think we want to sensationalise this, I think we want to put it into context.

"The overwhelming proportion of the supporters who were in the stadium gave us huge positive support and I don't think we should take it out of context.

"We should take it seriously and we will deal with it in the manner that we always do."