In a Football365 piece quite rightly questioning ITV's decision to show the virtually irrelevant Man Utd game tonight, relegating the appetising Celtic-Juventus tie to ITV Digital, a spokesman makes some rather worrying comments for Arsenal fans.

Paul Tyrrell told F365: 'Manchester United are the biggest club in England with the most supporters and the most floating supporters. When we showed Manchester United v Deportivo, we got 10.1 million viewers. When we showed Arsenal v Real Mallorca, which was a more vital match, we got less than 7m. (Utd) are the biggest draw in town and as the biggest commercial channel in the UK we are duty-bound to appeal to the widest possible audience.'

Fair play to Scotland's regional franchises, then, for exercising their right to opt out of the national service to show the game at Celtic Park. Carlton, please take note.