The incident in yesterday's match occurred after the Japan international won a penalty.

With 10 minutes remaining, Celtic were cruising with goals from Shaun Maloney and Georgios Samaras but there was still some controversy when Killie midfielder Craig Bryson appeared to tug Nakamura inside the box.

An angry Wright appeared to hand out his own punishment in the form of a slap to Nakamura's head.

The Celtic midfielder kept calm before watching Samaras score from the spot, and the visitors eventually ran out 3-1 winners.

Killie manager Jim Jefferies and goalkeeper Alan Combe later questioned the penalty award.

Strachan brushed aside any complaints about the decision but had plenty to say about the treatment handed out to Nakamura, claiming more publicity would have been given to the incident if Wright had been an Old Firm player.

He said: "I think if you look in the rules, if you pull someone by the jersey (it's a penalty).

"You didn't see it properly on television because the camera was at the wrong side but the referee saw it right away.

"What surprisingly wasn't shown too often was Nakamura getting a slap in the head by one of their players.

"Now trust me, if that had been a Celtic or Rangers player, it might even have made the front page of some of the tabloids.

"Imagine if it had been Neil Lennon in his heyday?

"But it was kind of swept under the carpet.

"I must again praise my players. To be provoked like that and turn away from it is fantastic.

"In any other business, if you get a smack on the head you say something about it.

"But he (Nakamura) was pushed, shoved and slapped on the head and he just walked away from it and continued to show that no matter what you do to him, he was still the best player on the park yesterday."

Nakamura had recently been quoted as saying he could be looking to return to his homeland in January, with one report claiming his agent was flying in to Glasgow to speak to Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell.

But Strachan refused to give that account any credence as he addressed reporters, saying: "Until somebody speaks to me about it, you guys just deal with the rumours and continue to talk about it and I will deal with reality."

While Strachan insists Rangers suffer as much as his club with regards controversial incidents being blown out of proportion, the Celtic boss believes he is all alone when it comes to media coverage of his rotation system.

"It's funny because when you see other teams changing their formations it's 'brave decisions' and 'team rotation'," the former Coventry and Southampton boss said.

"When I do it, I axe people.

"Is there a difference between me and the other managers?

"Tevez, Ronaldo, Scholes and Gerrard get left out but only here is there is there some sort of confrontation, an axe and all the rest of it.

"Hinkel. Confrontation, axed? No.

"Scott McDonald, confrontation, axed? No.

"Management is all about decisions and I've got a good squad here.

"Mark Wilson is back in after being left out.

"Paul Hartley, an international player, is not getting a game just now.

"I speak to him and explain it but it just depends how you want to slant it, I'm afraid.

"But at this moment I've never seen a happier squad."

Celtic welcome Irn-Bru First Division leaders Livingston to Parkhead for their Co-operative Insurance Cup third-round tie tomorrow night.

Strachan will rotate his squad again but insists it has nothing to do with the opposition.

"I watched them win at Dundee on Saturday." the Celtic boss said.

"They have good young players and I can see why they are top of the league.

"It's understandable that we will make changes but it's not because we are playing Livingston. We played on Sunday and are playing on Tuesday."