HE SCOTT TO STAY COOL

Dons boss backs Hoops legend Brown to keep emotions in check at Parkhead

BY

STEPHEN GLASS has backed Aberdeen captain Scott Brown to take his Celtic Park return in his stride.

The 36-year-old midfielder will play on the Parkhead turf today for the first time since ending his 14-year alliance with the club over the summer.

In what promises to be an emotional occasion for the home support, Celtic are also preparing a tribute to Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld, who died earlier this month.

Glass believes former Hoops captain Brown will have no problem maintaining his focus on the task at hand once the match kicks off.

The Dons boss said: “I don’t think there’s any doubt Scott is 100 per cent an Aberdeen player. It was a big occasion for Scott when Celtic came to Pittodrie earlier in the season because it was the first time he’d played against them and it will be another big occasion on Sunday.

“There is going to be a tribute to Bertie Auld that Scott and the Celtic camp will be a part of, and we will as a club also, before the game, so there’s a big atmosphere coming. Scott’s a player who has handled it for his whole career and I don’t see this being any different.”

Glass is hoping his side can bounce back to form after suffering successive defeats against Motherwell and Dundee United.

He said: “We need to be sharper at both ends of the pitch. At home to Motherwell we were pretty much in control and a slack period cost us big.

“Again, at Dundee United, we were in control until one of our players got sent off who shouldn’t have been sent off. Second half was 10 v 10 and we didn’t do enough to win the game but we did enough to lose it at a set-piece, and that’s the sort of thing that has to stop.

“The performances we had against Hibs, Rangers and Hearts are something we can look back to for some belief. We went to Ibrox and felt like we should have won the game so we know we can take that performance level and that belief to Parkhead and see what we get.” Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou (left) has signalled he was ready to make changes to keep his

Celtic team fresh for their return to league action.

Celtic were eight minutes away from recording a first victory on German soil on Thursday before a late collapse saw them suffer a 3-2 Europa League defeat against Bayer Leverkusen and drop into Conference League.

The games are coming thick and fast for Celtic with two every week until the winter break in January , starting with Aberdeen today. Postecoglou said: “It’s a big match, it’s back into the league and it’s an important game at home back at Celtic Park so we want to keep the momentum going.

“Obviously after a big European night we just want to make sure the players recover well and we may have to make some changes to just make sure that the team

is up and ready for it.”