Celtic boss Tony Mowbray played down the spat between Artur Boruc and skipper Gary Caldwell during Sunday's last-gasp win over Hearts at Parkhead.

Suso Santana's fifth-minute strike for the Jambos had sent the Hoops' fans into a state of high anxiety which appeared to transmit itself to Boruc and Caldwell after the home side had almost conceded a second goal before the break.

The excitable Poland goalkeeper parried Andrew Driver's shot and Caldwell raced back to clear the ball off the line - but both players squared up to each other in apparent rage and for a moment the situation threatened to get out of hand.

All was forgiven when Chris Killen's equaliser 10 minutes after the break and Glenn Loovens' injury-time winner took Celtic two points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, a boost for the club after their disappointing Europa League defeat by Hapoel Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

"If the supporters see players arguing with each other I would suggest it is because they are passionate about the game," Mowbray said.

"Certain fans in Tel Aviv didn't think there was enough passion shown, so you can't then complain if footballers are demanding of each other. They walked through the door of the dressing room, shook hands and patted each other on the back. It is the emotion of football, it is emotion like the fans get emotional and for me it is a positive."