Borg accused of spitting on Brown

Scotland captain Scott Brown has blasted Maltese player Steve Borg for allegedly spitting on him.

Brown, already on a yellow card, spent the 2-0 win over Malta at Hampden last night desperately trying to avoid the booking that would have ruled him out of the Scots’ massive World Cup qualifying Group F clash against Slovakia at Hampden on October 5.

He had to show incredible restraint, however, not to retaliate physically during a second-half incident when he claimed he was the victim of a horrible assault from Borg. Brown said: “He did spit on me. “He is a horrible b ****** . He put his hand up to apologise but I managed to keep my head. Getting the win and three points was the main thing.

“It was about the team, not about one person or bookings or anything like that.

“I thought we played really well. We played our game at our tempo.

“We were very patient with the ball,” added the Celtic midfielder.

“It is a great result from England as well for us. We knew we had to win our game and then just hope they gave us a helping hand. I didn’t really notice the cheering (of the English goals) and I thought the fans were maybe cheering us for keeping the ball.

“I didn’t know England had been a goal down and we only found that out after the game.

“The Slovakia game will be massive now and hopefully the fans come out and support us next month.”

For defender Christophe Berra, who scored the first goal of the night, it’s now a case of bring on Slovakia.

The Hearts skipper said: “It will be some night and hopefully the fans can recreate the atmosphere they did against England.

“If they can do that then it will be intimidating for them. They have top players and beat us comfortably over there but I think it is maybe a different Scotland now. It is going to be a massive game.”

He put his hand up to apologise but I managed to keep the head. Getting the win was the main thing. SCOTT BROWN