CELTIC'S William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Dundee United on March 18 is facing a TV blackout - leaving both clubs tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket.

The tie clashes with Champions League action, Barcelona playing Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund facing Juventus.

Under Uefa rules, no other football can be screened in direct opposition to Champions League games.

The option would have been for Celtic and United to bring the 7.45pm kick-off forward to tea-time.

But with extra time a possibility, even a six o'clock start would not have guaranteed to beat the restriction.

The fallout from Sunday's draw at Tannadice is still being felt, with Virgil van Dijk and Paul Paton both submitting appeals against the red cards they received.

These will be heard on Thursday. And, if successful - Paton is almost certain to be exonerated as it was clearly a case of mistake identity by the assistant referee, Graham Chambers - both can play in Sunday's League Cup Final.

If not, they will miss this showpiece as well as the Scottish Cup replay the following Wednesday.

Paton's team-mate Calum Butcher was the player involved with Van Dijk.

And SFA Compliance Officer Tony McGlennan is expected to bring a Notice of Complaint against him.

McGlennan spent yesterday trawling through footage from the game, in particular, scrutinising the ninth-minute bust-up between Van Dijk and Butcher, which began with a clash between Scott Brown and Nadir Ciftci.

United boss Jackie McNamara insisted that had referee Craig Thomson dealt with Brown's tackle, the incident would not have escalated.

But Brown - who still bears the marks of Ciftci's studs on the side of his head - does not consider he has any case to answer and said: "I think it was a great tackle.

"The ref was five yards away, and he had no problem with it. The linesman was 10 yards away, and the two of them had a great view.

"You could see quite clearly on the telly I won the ball."

Brown added: "It's a man's sport, and people need to man up a bit."

McGlennan is also understood to have examined the penalty awarded to United when Aidan Connolly went down in the box.

Hoops boss Ronny Deila insisted the player dived, and skipper Brown agreed. He said: "That was a blatant dive."

McGlennan has until 3pm today to decide if anyone should be given a suspension for their actions during the tousy match, during which Paul Dixon was also sent off for preventing a goal by using an arm and Stefan Johansen was booked.

It was the Norwegian's second caution of the competition, and he will be suspended for the replay, along with Dixon.

However, as the punishments are competition specific, both players are free to play in the League Cup final on Sunday.

It promises to be a very busy few days for the SFA Disciplinary Department and Appeals Board.

Their Refereeing Department is also expected to study the performance of the match officials, in particular assistant referee Chambers, on whose advice referee Thomson issued the red cards to Van Dijk and Paton.

Ironically, while investigations and hearings are ongoing at Hampden, Chambers will be in action tomorrow night, running the line in the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Shakhtar Donetsk.