Celtic to be allowed 18,500 fans for West Ham United friendly

Celtic will be allowed around 18,500 fans inside Parkhead for the friendly against West Ham United on Saturday.

After 2,000 fans attended the friendly against Preston at the weekend, 9,000 came through the Celtic Park gates on Tuesday night for the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland.

Celtic confirmed the increased figure for the Hammers game following a meeting with the local Safety Advisory Group and were "encouraged by the indicative figure of around 24,500 for the subsequent home game".

A Celtic statement read: "We were delighted to have our supporters with us last night for the game against FC Midtjylland, and we really look forward to welcoming our fans once again for the match this Saturday.

"We can assure our supporters we will be doing all we can to work closely with the relevant authorities and welcome our fans back in even greater numbers in the coming weeks.

"Details on match ticket balloting for West Ham United will be shared in the next 24 hours, but in the meantime we ask that you continue to familiarise yourself with our new protocols for reduced capacity matches at Celtic Park.

"We want nothing more than to welcome as many fans back to the stadium as quickly as possible, and therefore appreciate your patience as we continue to work behind the scenes to make that happen."