Hibs boss Neil Lennon has insisted that Dedryck Boyata should have been sent off at Easter Road yesterday afternoon as his side came back from 2-0 down to take a point off Celtic.

Boyata was booked in the opening period for a foul on Anthony Stokes and then looked certain to see red after a late foul on former Celtic kid Dylan McGeouch.

Referee John Beaton looked to be reaching for his card before changing his mind – but Lennon thought there was little ambiguity in the incident.

Read more: Hibs 2 Celtic 2; 68 not out but Hoops allow two-goal lead to slip at frosty Easter Road

“It’s a second yellow, a clear second yellow,” he said. “I thought the referee was going to reach for it but then he decided not to.

‘It’s unbelievable. And how[Mikael] Lustig didn’t get a yellow card in the first half I don’t know. He’s fouled McGinn and Barker. It was strange decision making from the referee.

‘You’re asking me the question because you know the answer - it was a second yellow card, clearly.”

Meanwhile, former Hoops captain and manager Lennon also politely agreed to disagree with Brendan Rodgers over the battle between John McGinn and Scott Brown.

“I would totally disagree with that assessment,” he said. “I thought John McGinn was superb today. Physically he was good, his football was good.

“I don’t remember Browny dominating the game. In fact in the last 20 minutes John got stronger when we put him back in his natural position. He played a bit differently to start with but I thought he was magnificent. Maybe Brendan sees it different but I thought McGinn was a cut above today.”

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Lennon was caught laughing on camera as the game drew to a close.

He revealed that he was chuckling at Oli Shaw’s effort that was cleared off the line by Lustig – a chortle that almost turned to something else within seconds.

“I was laughing at the end when Shaw’s shot was kicked off the line to almost make it 3-2,” smiled Lennon. “It would have been some turnaround but I wasn’t laughing when Sinclair ran through at the end. But I’m very pleased. Celtic are a super team. We’ve scored six goals in three games against them - but we still haven’t beaten them!

“If we had won the match today we would have been fortunate. I’ve got to be happy with the result. There were aspects of the performance that didn’t please me but we showed tremendous character to come back into the game. We could have won it, we could have lost it. But I’ve got to be really pleased with the point.”

Read more: "Contest between Scott Brown and John McGinn? There was no contest," says Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers

Former Celtic and Aberdeen winger Niall McGinn was at Easter Road yesterday afternoon with Lennon hoping to agree a deal for the player who has had a difficult time of late in South Korea.

“We have expressed an interest in Niall,” said Lennon. “That’s as far as it has gone. He was invited along to watch the game today and hopefully he will be pleased with what he saw.”