Celtic 'watching' loanee's progress following Europa goal, Rangers ace slams referee after Nice demolition job

Celtic and Rangers are gearing up for another round of Scottish Premiership fixtures, as they prepare to take on Ross County and St Johnstone, respectively. In the meantime, here are all the biggest rumours from around Scotland’s top division today.

A Celtic youngster has been putting in some excellent performances while out on loan - his status in the squad could be bolstered upon his return to Parkhead.

Meanwhile, a Rangers star has revelled in his side’s dominant victory over OGC Nice in the Europa League last night, though he took umbrage with the performance of the referee over the course of the game.

Celtic keeping an eye on Johnny Kenny following Europa Conference League goal

Johnny Kenny has begun to attract plenty of impressed onlookers with his performances for Shamrock Rovers on loan from Celtic this season. Last night, he wowed audiences once again as he scored for Rovers in a 1-1 Europa Conference League draw with Rapid Vienna.

According to 67 Hail Hail, the 21-year-old could be in line for a spot in the Celtic first-team when he returns to the club. So far this season, Kenny has made 37 appearances in all competitions for Rovers, scoring 18 goals and racking up three assists along the way.

Last month, Kenny spoke on trying to impress his parent club in an interview with the Irish Independent: “[Celtic] are my current club, but you just have to try prove them wrong on the pitch and see what comes of it.

“It’s a message here and there from Darren O’Dea [Celtic’s professional player pathway manager], that’s it, that’s all it is. I’m into the last few months of my deal now at Celtic, so we’ll just see what happens.

“It’s hard to take. Last year, [the lack of contact was] fair enough because I wasn’t really performing. But this year, I think I have performed well and I have gotten minimal contact from them.”

Dujon Sterling criticises officials after Rangers thump OGC Nice in Europa League

Last night provided one of the best Rangers European displays in recent memory, when the Light Blues annihilated OGC Nice by a score of 4-1 at the Stade de Nice. This was in spite of a questionable refereeing performance from Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, who Dujon Sterling felt was ‘desperate’ to give the French outfit a penalty.

The referee pointed to the spot after he penalised John Souttar initially for handball in the area before reviewing two further incidents involving Sterling and Connor Barron - nevertheless, after a lengthy VAR check, the penalty was ultimately not given.

In a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) page, Sterling wrote: ”Good European performance from the boys , great atmosphere from fans. Btw anyone know why the ref was desperate to give them a pen?”

While Sterling was clearly not happy with the officials, he nonetheless took the time to thank the Gers supporters, lauding them for generating a ‘great atmosphere’.

Rangers were dominant throughout the game - they opened the scoring in the 35th minute through Vaclav Cerny, with Mohamed Diomande and Hamza Igamane giving them a 3-0 lead before the break. Igamane would score again in the second half - a late effort from Badredine Bouanani did little to spare Nice’s blushes.