Celtic's Arne Engels: Being hit by coin in Old Firm defeat 'was not nice'

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels has described the experience of being hit by a coin during the Old Firm defeat to Rangers as “not nice” and something he had to get through in a difficult game.

The Belgian was struck by a coin thrown from the Rangers support with ten minutes to play in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox on January 2.

He fell to the ground before being able to play on. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said the player could have sustained a serious eye injury if the coin had struck an inch lower.

Police Scotland is looking into the incident and the SPFL have appealed for witnesses to identify the perpetrator.

“In the beginning, it was a little bit sore, but at the end, it was okay,” Engels said.

“It’s not really nice to experience things like that. You just want to play your game and just want to enjoy the football.

“It was not really enjoyable that night. It was not a really nice incident.”

Engels said he was able to continue playing despite the incident.

“You always need to switch on and that’s why you are a football player,” Engels said. “You always need to think about the next situation, and that’s what everybody is telling you.

“That’s, I think, what I did. In the end, you can always look back on it and think maybe it was not really nice or this or that.

“In the end, you need to perform. I think it was in the last ten minutes or something. You still need to play those ten minutes.

“It’s a really high-level game. You still need to do it.”

The incident was unlike anything Engels had experienced before in his time playing in Belgium or Germany.

“Sometimes you see things like that, like beer spilling all over you, but not really throwing things on top of your head or something.

“It’s never nice, and it’s never good to happen in a football stadium. You are there to do your job, and I think you guys never experienced something like it, that somebody will throw coins or something on your heads during your work.

“So it’s never really nice to see that happen and experience that, but in the end, you need to get through.”

Engels arrived at Celtic as the club’s record signing last summer and has found his stride in recent weeks, although he is still competing for a regular starting place. He feels he has been showing some of his best but hopes to build as the season progresses.

“I think I’m in good form,” he said.

“I’m performing well, I think. You can always do better. Like every sportsman, you always want to do better in every game, even if you score or give an assist.

“You always have some points that you want to see improved, but I think, in general, I’m doing fine.”