Celtic join Allan chase

CELTIC are poised to engage Rangers in a tug-of-war for the signature of Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan. The 23-year-old playmaker was voted Championship Player of the Year by his fellow professionals. And, after toppling the Easter Road side in the Premiership Play-Off

semi-final, Rangers have already registered an interest with the player’s agents. Sportsmail believes that will now prompt rivals Celtic to revisit a long-term interest after watching the former Dundee United and West Brom man numerous times this season. Allan has a year left on his current deal and the SPFL champions were prepared to wait until January to secure a pre-contract agreement. The interest of their Glasgow rivals is now likely to change that. Consigned to the Championship for a second season, Hibs are reluctant to sell but risk missing out on a fee of around £400,000. Boss Alan Stubbs, meanwhile, has played down speculation linking him with a move to Sheffield United. ‘I cannot stop speculation but I have a job to do here and that’s at the forefront of my mind,’ he said. ‘At this time, I have other things to occupy me, things to take care of over the next few days and that’s my priority. ‘I had a big job to do here when I took over and it’s still a big job. Nothing has changed. ‘It was disappointing not to get promoted, but we will go again and there would be nothing better than to be in a position this time next year when we are talking about automatic promotion.’ Meanwhile, Ronny Deila’s former club Stromsgodset have axed his successor David Nielsen after admitting he failed to live up to the Celtic manager’s standards.