Celtic star names five items Rangers fans threw at him in derby as answers demanded over constant Ibrox issue

A Celtic star has opened up on his experience of being targeted by Rangers fans’ five different missiles during the recent Old Firm.

Viljami Sinisalo had objects thrown at him in the second half of the 1-1 Premiership draw. He is currently deputising for Kasper Schmeichel as Hoops number with the Danish stopper out injured but had various items aimed in his direct from the home end at Ibrox.

Sinisalo has now opened up on the incident. He says it wasn’t just a bottle that was thrown and wonders what would have happened had something struck him in the facial area, having been hit in the leg by one of the several missiles which included a bottle, coins, a vape, lighters and even a mug.

Celtic star reacts to Rangers missiles

He says it has happened more than once or twice at Ibrox, with the repeated issue needing answered. Sinisalo told Clyde 1: “I see some mention that there was a bottle thrown at me, but it wasn't just a bottle by the way. First of all, I was hit with something, not in my upper body, it's just somewhere in my lower leg. But it wasn't just a bottle, there was lighters, vapes, coins, mugs, all sorts flying. But listen, when you think of it and you say, let's say that glass bottle that was on the pitch hits me or hits someone else, what happens then?

“What if it hits you in the eye and you can't play football after that? What happens then? So that's the questions that we need answers for and I know it's not the first time it's happened. I know I was there when Arne was hit with something, Greg's been hit, Joe Hart's been hit, staff members have been hit. So it's not the first time it's happened. So you're probably hoping that they stop it eventually, trying to not give them anything back, I suppose, and it's one of them. It doesn't really affect you.

“It's not nice, but you try and focus in the game. It's such an important game. There's so much at stake every time you play a game like that. So you can't really let that affect because that's what the people want at the end of the day. They want that to affect you, which I'm glad to say they didn't. I'm just trying to do my job.

“There's not many jobs in the world that you get bottles thrown at you. I don't know how people identify who it is, because there's a lot of people obviously throwing them. I'm talking 30, 40 objects here. That was on the pitch. So it's not just one individual. So to identify the individual is probably hard in itself. I don't know. It's up to them. I can't say what needs to be done and what should be done. It's up to the authorities and the club there.”

Old Firm performance

On his run in the Celtic team of late, Sinisalo told the Daily Record: “Of course. Listen, as a Celtic keeper, you want to play well every single game. Different games require different things. Games like Sunday, you’ve got to be calm and be able to make saves when they come. There are different games where you’ve got to be really clean with your passing, and there might not be as many saves. Every game is a bit different.

“I’m just trying to do my best to show that I can do the different sides of that. Hopefully, I can keep doing that for the foreseeable.”