I’ll face Slovenia ..but England is still up in air
SCOTT BROWN has declared himself available for Scotland’s must-win World Cup qualifier with Slovenia next month – but can’t commit to facing England in the summer.
The Celtic skipper, left, admits he can’t make any guarantees he’ll stick around for the showdown with the Auld Enemy at
Hampden in June because the Hoops will be back for pre-season training a fortnight later.
Brown came out of international retirement to face the English at Wembley last November and has thrashed out a deal with national boss Gordon Strachan to consider his future on a game-by-game basis.
But the 31-year-old will put his hand up for the make-or-break Slovenia qualifier in Glasgow on March 26.
Brown said: “We’ll see if I get the call but I am available. Gordon and myself speak regularly and he knows I’m available but it’s up to him to pick me.
“That will be for the next game and then we’ll take it from there.
“The England game is the big problem for me. I’ve spoken before about the importance of the match and what it means.
“But at the moment all I’m thinking about is getting three points for Scotland against Slovenia then going from there.
“The thing I’ve got going for me is Gordon. Everyone knows how close we are.
“The game-by-game thing is huge for me. It’s not like I’m saying I’ll play this one match then go back in to retirement.
“I don’t want to pick and choose what games I play in.”
Brown admits the England clash is a major headache – with the June 10 tie just a fortnight before Celtic would be due back for pre-season training ahead of their potential Champions League qualifiers.
The Hoops could have half a dozen players involved and the skipper is clear the date of the game makes it impossible for him to commit.
Brown said: “I don’t think they have looked at Celtic’s schedule. It’s OK for the guys in England, they can come back then they are away again for another four weeks.
“They obviously haven’t considered Scottish players. We could have six players in the Scotland squad who’d be back within a fortnight for the qualifiers.
“But I’ve made myself available for this one and we’ll see what happens.”
Brown’s international future could hinge on Scotland’s result against Slovenia. Defeat would end any faint hopes of reaching Russia in 2018 and likely rule the Celtic star out of being picked for a meaningless match against England.
While the captain is refusing to give up hope of getting to the World Cup he admits Scotland are now in must-win territory every time they step on to the pitch.
Brown said: “It would be a huge three points if we could beat Slovenia and would keep us right in the group.
“We’ve had some disappointing results that have been hard to take but it could just take that one big result to get us back in the fight.”