Lennon was dismissed by referee Craig Thomson at Tynecastle

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has confirmed he will appeal against his automatic two-match dugout ban for being sent to the stand by referee Craig Thomson.

Lennon will also contest a separate excessive misconduct conduct charge, which could see any touchline suspension extended.

He was dismissed during a 2-0 defeat at Hearts on 10 November.

While Lennon waits for his case to be heard, he will be free to remain on the sidelines on match days.

The deadline for appealing against the automatic ban is Friday and speaking at the pre-match media conference ahead of Saturday's league clash with Dundee United, Lennon said: "I will be appealing today."

Lennon was angered to see Joe Ledley sent off at Tynecastle and was later sent to the stand by Thomson for his protests after his side were not awarded a penalty for a handball offence.

Once dismissed, Lennon appeared to exchange a few heated words with the fourth official, Steven McLean.

The manager said immediately after the 2-0 loss that he could not understand why he had been ordered to leave pitch-side.

And last week he made it clear he had no intention of toning down his passion in the dugout.

Meanwhile, the Celtic manager revealed that on the day of his team's defeat at Tynecastle, referee Dougie McDonald had attempted to get in touch with him.

Celtic have made repeated calls for the resignation of McDonald after the match official admitted to lying to Lennon in explaining how he and his assistant Steven Craven had come to rescind a penalty award for Celtic at Tannadice.

Lennon, who has been waiting on an apology from McDonald, said: "He called me and left a message. Ironically, it was the day of the Hearts game. There has been no contact since."

Asked if he had returned McDonald's call, Lennon replied: "No."

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