GORDON’S VERDICT ON BROWNAND SCOTLAND

CRAIG GORDON reckons his Hoops team-mate Scott Brown has earned the right to decide when and where he plays for Scotland.

Brown missed the first three games of the country’s World Cup qualifying campaign after announcing his international retirement in August.

But he came back to help out his former Parkhead boss, Gordon Strachan, after his form and fitness improved dramatically in the early part of the season.

The next big international meeting for Scotland is the Hampden showdown with old foes England on June 10.

Whether Celtic mainstay Brown will be involved in the cross-border tussle remains to be seen and the fact that Celtic’s Champions League qualifying campaign begins on July 11-12 complicates matters in terms of rest, recovery and pre-season training for Brown.

Despite criticisms that he shouldn’t be given special treatment when it comes to international affairs, Gordon is backing Brown in this tricky club and country conundrum.

Gordon, 34, said: “He is at something like 500 games now at Celtic and has a lot of miles on the clock. We want him to play in every game he possibly can. He just wants to keep playing. He goes through injuries and knocks, no-one ever knows he is injured.

“He never makes a fuss and plays through almost any injury he possibly can. He is always out there leading the team.

‘He’ll know himself if he can do the team justice or not. If he feels that he can’t go out there and do as well as he wants to do then that is his decision.

“I think we should respect that because he has earned that with the amount of football he has played over his career and the way he has gone about his business.”