There is no doubt that there is a different level of physicality in football to what it was back when we played.

I watched the Celtic game against Motherwell last week and I did think that Kieran Tierney was fortunate to walk away without any serious damage to his knee after the challenge from Ryan Bowman.

However, what I would say is that I think these tackles tend to be highlighted more because we see them far more rarely than we ever used to.

And rather than appeal to referees to sort it out, I think the message has to be directed towards players across the board because it is players who can sometimes get a bit frustrated and go into a tackle with intent.

It is when you suspect that there is intent to harm an opponent that it has really crossed a line.

I think we all enjoy watching a competitive game and it is good to see some robust tackles, but so long as there is a genuine challenge to win the ball then that is fine.

I was also at Celtic Park a couple of weeks back for the Scottish Cup tie against Inverness and I actually felt that there were some really bad tackles flying in during that one.

Given just how well Celtic are playing at the minute I think that teams are coming to Glasgow wanting to bring a bit f physicality in order to compete. I actually would have no problem with that whatsoever – but it has to be genuine.

That doesn’t mean going over the top and we are left looking at someone who could be looking at a serious and possibly career-threatening injury.

In this day and age we see much less of it than we used to but it has to be a philosophy that applies to every team and every player – no-one should be on the end of tackle that has been someone going in with intent to injure them.

That is not just Celtic players that applies to, that is anyone who walks onto a pitch to play a game of football.