Luke McCowan insists Celtic’s players remain fully focused on matters on the pitch after another silent protest from supporters at the weekend.

The midfielder, who started against Hibernian, admitted the unusual atmosphere took some adjusting to as fans remained silent for the opening 12 minutes of the Premiership clash. The protest, designed to highlight frustration at the Celtic board, has now become a recurring theme in recent fixtures, and will continue to be part of the matchday experience on Thursday and Sunday, unless the club acts.

McCowan, though, was clear that the squad cannot allow themselves to be distracted by events in the stands. He told RecordSport:

“That’s our full focus. As we said before the game, it’s just what we’re doing on the pitch is the main thing that we can contribute to.

“We just need to keep focused on ourselves. If the fans are doing whatever, then that’s on them. It’s not in our control

“We just need to control what we can and that is the stuff on the pitch. The first 12 minutes I could actually hear people talking to me, which was a bit strange.

“But the fans are doing what they want and that’s fair enough to them. We just need to keep fully focused on ourselves.

“They’ve going to express themselves aren’t they? It’s what fans do. It won’t matter if they’re expressing themselves against us or against the board or whatever it may be.

“We just know that our full focus is on the pitch and on the team.

“It’s probably easier when you’re on the pitch and you’re just playing football and forgetting about it.

“That’s the easiest way to deal with it. When you’re on that pitch, the only thing that matters is putting the ball in the back of the net, to be honest.

“You don’t have anything else. Personally, I only think that it won’t matter if they’re quiet or if they’re singing. It’s fully focused on that.

“Long may that continue to be the message for our team.”

Celtic dropped points for the second time this season in a goalless draw, with frustration growing off the pitch as much as on it. Celtic’s form in front of goal has been poor, but that will come as a surprise to no one. Kyogo and Kuhn have gone unreplaced, and then, on deadline day, Adam Idah left with no replacement in the building. Rate him or not, he still scored 20 goals for Celtic last season.

That’s not the manager’s fault that the squad isn’t getting the right, quality additions. It’s those at the top, who seem to be unwilling to take Celtic forward and are focused on being marginally better than Rangers, who only just picked up their first win.