VIRGIL VAN DIJK has claimed referee Alan Muir got "a little bit fired up" in the red-hot atmosphere of Pittodrie at the weekend.

And the Celtic defender believes that played a part in skipper Scott Brown being shown a second yellow card.

Brown - who had not picked up any domestic cautions since the Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen back in Feburary - was cautioned early in the second half for a foul on Peter Pawlett.

And, when former Celtic team-mate Niall McGinn went down after Brown moved an arm in front of him as the Northern Irishman changed direction on the edge of the Celtic box in a late breakaway, ref Muir instantly reached for his yellow card again followed by his red.

Van Dijk believes the sending-off was harsh, and said: "I think the referee got a a little bit fired up because of the fans."

Brown's dismissal left the Hoops a man short for the final eight minutes. But rather than try to hold on for a point, Ronny Deila's side pushed for the win - and Van Dijk was the hero when he flicked the ball over the line in injury-time to fire the champions to the top of the table.

The defender added: "We didn't want to lose, so we kept the back door closed and we won our battles. I am very happy that we scored a goal in the last minute. It felt amazing. It was an important win, especially as we went down to 10 men."

Brown - who had not picked up any domestic cautions since the Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen back in Feburary -will now be suspended when Celtic return to action after the international break as he serves an automatic one-game ban for his double-booking at Pittodrie.

Now many of the Hoops have headed off on international duty while the rest are enjoying a well-deserved few days rest and recuperation after a tough schedule which has seen them win six of their last seven games, and draw the other.

They do so proudly sitting in No.1 spot in the league for the first time this season, and Van Dijk told Celtic TV: "Celtic belong at the top of the table, of course.

"We didn't look at the rankings too much because the season is very long. But it is always good to be back where you belong."

Meanwhile, Stefan Scepovic, Leigh Griffiths, Beram Kayal and Jo Inge Berget got some much-needed match practise when they turned out for the Development team in their match against Hibs at Cappielow last night.