Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, has criticised the SPFL for their scheduling of back-to-back league games against Motherwell while also lamenting what he sees as the hypocrisy of the Lanarkshire club in the aftermath of controversial ties between the teams this week.

Motherwell were aggrieved at penalty decisions in the Betfred League Cup final at Hampden and also in the 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at Fir Park; Andy Rose’s challenge on Callum McGregor allowed Scott Sinclair to give Celtic a penalty which preserved their unbeaten domestic status, a run of 66 games that had seemed precarious until the final minutes of the encounter.

While Motherwell have been vocal in their criticism of both penalty decisions, Brown has claimed they have been guilty of turning a blind eye to more sinister elements during the clash at Fir Park.

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Coins and sweeties that were thrown at Celtic players, with Brown claiming it is becoming normalised given the regularity with which it occurs. The Celtic captain also maintained that Louis Moult, the Fir Park striker, dived to win the free-kick from which the opening goal was scored.

“Louis Moult dived and we managed to score an own-goal from it – you don’t hear anything about that,” said Brown. “He said I dragged him back and I definitely didn’t. I have seen it back and it is shoulder to shoulder. You don’t hear anything about coins launched in people’s direction and trying to injure people. That all gets thrown under the carpet and they focus on two decisions.

“I made a pound. There was a coin, strawberry chewits – I picked them up too! It isn’t showing a great example, especially when there are kids there. If they misplace that coin and it hits a kid or someone else on the head and you don’t want that but eventually someone will get hit.

“There was a few times it happened. It was at throw-ins and a few times with Griff taking a corner. It is always from that same section. You think they would eventually move those fans around to stop it happening.

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“It is starting to become part and parcel of going there now. It is a great place to go and play football because the fans are on top of one another but you can’t be launching things. If we do anything then we would have a bad reputation if we had to throw something back but they can do it for 90 minutes.”

Brown turned the screw a little, too, when he claimed that Motherwell celebrated Mikael Lustig’s own-goal 12 minutes from time as though “they had won the World Cup.”

The first instance of coins on the pitch came when the ball had gone out for a routine throw-in on the far corner, while there were subsequent missiles launched when Griffiths took a corner kick in the same area.

There was further rancour when Sinclair netted from the spot but Brown maintained that there was nothing inflammatory about the celebrations as Celtic stretched their unbeaten run to 66 games.

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“You are allowed to celebrate,” he said. “They gave us pelters for 90 minutes. We are allowed to celebrate a goal – Motherwell celebrated like they had won the World Cup when we scored their goal, when we celebrate they throw coins at us. It is what it is.”

In any case, the stage is set for the final part of the trilogy on Saturday afternoon when Celtic host the Fir Park side.

And Brown was scathing in the manner in which the games have been scheduled, given the free weeks that are available further on in the season.

Wednesday night’s game was a replay of a postponement of the fixture when both clubs were involved in the Betfred League Cup semi-finals but a more sensible slot could have been found for the game to take place, according to the Celtic captain.

With three games in quick succession it would appear likely that there is always the danger of personal and collective issues being carried forward from one game to the next.

“The SPFL have put us in that position,” he said. “After winning a cup, you play the same team two and a half days later. It shouldn’t really happen.

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“I know the fixtures are building up but there is plenty of time after Christmas.

“If you look at our schedule all the way through December as well, for them to throw an extra game in for us? They are supposed to be helping us as well.

“I’m not surprised by it. Because it’s the SPFL. There was no explanation given. If you asked Motherwell or ourselves, we would want some time off after a cup final. As the winners, you would like time to enjoy it - not to be thrown right in at the deep end again against the same opponent.

“We could play more games at the end of January or towards the end of the season, before the split. There will be plenty of time.

“You would think they would try and help us out with our Champions League game coming up next week, because it’s good for Scottish football if we do well.

“We don’t get a lot of time off in the summer. So if they could make a bit easier around the European fixtures, it would be much appreciated.”