CHAIRMAN John Reid today said Celtic will not be allowed to fall into the hands of foreign billionaires.

Reid says the SPL champions have big ambitions but stressed he would not allow the club to follow in the footsteps of several English sides.

"No, I wouldn't and Dermot Desmond (Celtic majority shareholder) wouldn't either," Reid said.

"But we would like access to a bigger platform whether in Europe or outside Scotland or whatever."

Celtic's Champions League opponents Manchester United were subject to a controversial takeover by American businessman Malcolm Glazer in May 2005.

And United's neighbours City were bought by former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the summer of 2007 with an Abu Dhabi consortium taking control this season.

Four other English Premiership clubs are in the hands of foreign owners: Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Fulham.

But despite an enormous gap in earnings between Celtic and the top English sides, Reid says his club will resist any temptation to sell the club to the highest bidder.

"Dermot has been a fantastic support for the club," the former Home Secretary said.

"We're quite happy taking the (television) money that we got and doing what we have.

"The key thing about it is not to have somebody who is just handing money out to you, but to run a good business model.

"And despite all of the problems we've had and the limited resources, at our AGM last week we were able to report again that, on the business side, we had the board and shareholders had made a small profit." Former Celt Derek Riordan is a doubt to face the Hoops ahead of his first meeting with his old club after sustaining a calf knock.

The 25-year-old has notched three goals since returning to Hibs last month."