Dundee United have appealed the red card handed out to Paul Paton on Sunday

Dundee United have appealed the red card shown to Paul Paton during Sunday's stormy Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tannadice and Celtic will follow suit over the dismissal of Virgil van Dijk.

United have contested the sending off of their midfielder, claiming a case of mistaken identity, while the champions have until 3pm on Tuesday afternoon to lodge their formal appeal.

The pair were dismissed by referee Craig Thomson on the advice of his standside linesman following a fracas involving a number of players just 10 minutes into the game.

But Paton was clearly yards from the incident, which was sparked off by a strong tackle from Celtic skipper Scott Brown on United striker Nadir Ciftci.

Home defender Calum Butcher was the player who tangled with van Dijk, but the red card handed to his team-mate Paton cannot be transferred retrospectively.

SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan will now study both cases and should the appeals fail both players will sit out this weekend's Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park and next Wednesday's replay at Celtic Park. 

And McGlennan could also be called to rule on Ciftci's part in the incident. The Turk, who was only cleared to play in the game 48 hours earlier after successfully appealing against a two-game ban for 'striking' Inverness defender Gary Warren, could be hit with a violent conduct charge after he appeared to kick out at Brown.

Paul Dixon, the second United player to be sent off for handball in the penalty area, will miss the replay but as his two-game ban is 'competition specific' the left full-back will be available for Sunday's final.

And McGlennan's workload following the 1-1 draw could be further extended if he believes Dundee United forward Aidan Connolly was guilty of simulation when winning his side a penalty, which was converted by Ciftci on the stroke of half-time.

Connolly, son of former Dundee United star Paddy, went down in the area as he attempted to brush past visiting striker Anthony Stokes.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila called it a 'blatant dive' adding he hoped the authorities would investigate it after one of his players, Derk Boerrigter, was retrospectively banned for simulation earlier in the season.