Alan Hutton believes Jota was 'walking a fine line' after playing ball boy in Celtic's comeback win over Ross County.
Ange Postecoglou's side responded from going a goal down at Parkhead to pick up all three points and increase their lead at the top of the Premiership over Rangers to nine points following dropped points in Paisley against St Mirren from Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men.
David Turnbull levelled the scoring for the Hoops and the quick-thinking attacker - who was warming-up at the side of the pitch - raced into the goal to retrieve the ball to get the home side pushing again in their bid to grab a second and the lead. They got the all-important strike just minutes later after a stunning finish from Sead Haskabanovic.
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Video footage emerged online of Jota's role after the leveller with many punters hailing the Portuguese star. However, Hutton reckons he could have easily been sent off for coming on the field of play and it was a major risk as he looked to speed up his side's desire to retrieve the ball and get play restarted once again.
The former Rangers man told Football Insider: " Obviously you understand how much it means to him.
“He is not on the pitch and he is reacting that way. But, the flip side to that is that you are walking a fine line.
“You should not be there, you should not be doing that and the ref can interpret that however he sees fit. You could get booked or sent off for coming on the field of play.
“Yes it is good to see that everybody looks like they are pulling in the one direction. They are desperate to win which is a great thing, you just have to be careful you do not overstep the mark.“
Celtic will return from the World Cup shutdown with a tough test on the road at Aberdeen before back to back home games with Livingston and St Johnstone before Christmas.
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