Rangers boss Danny Rohl: 'It will be a shame for all if Old Firm loses away fans'

Danny Rohl says “nobody wants to see” the disorder at the Old Firm derby last weekend.

Fans clashed on the field, a ten-year-old was struck by a coin, and the Broomloan Road stand was vandalised after Celtic knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup on penalties.

Five days on from the match, Rangers “unequivocally” condemned the fan disorder, while Celtic say “examples of unacceptable behaviour” must be addressed.

Martin O’Neill said earlier in the week he fears there will be no away allocations at future Old Firm games, and the Rangers manager agreed on Friday, saying it “would be a shame for all” if away fans were banned as a result of the disorder.

“Nobody likes to see what happened after the game on Sunday”, he said. “The emotion from the supporters during the game was good to see, and Ibrox was loud, but not after the game.

“After the game, we didn’t speak about football; we spoke about all the other things around the pitch and off the pitch.

“The only topic was the situation on the pitch and this should not have happened.

“Nobody likes to see this. The emotional part was great during the game, I like to have Old Firm with supporters from both sides.

“It makes the football exciting, it makes the atmosphere in the game, but there’s a responsibility that we can’t keep going like this.

“I think there is an investigation, and they will look for all these things; there will be some consequences, and we will see what happens.

“Yeah, it would be a shame for all of us. I really enjoyed the game with supporters on both ends. I think this is great if you’re away or at home, it makes the football exciting, but then if such things happen, you have to be careful as a consequence.

“We will see what it means.”

After two disappointing results against Celtic, Rangers now turn their focus to their league campaign.

Rohl’s side are third in the William Hill Premiership ahead of Sunday’s trip to St Mirren.

“It’s game by game now. We have to start on Sunday. In the split, I think everything is possible,” Rohl said.

“When you look at our results, we took a lot of good results from the team around us and this should be our goal.

“The nine cup finals for me is crucial.”

Rohl also confirmed that Diomande will not be available for the lunchtime kickoff on Sunday.