‘If Celtic could play without Larsson they can play without Brown’ insists Slovakian

Former Celtic midfielder Lubo Moravcik cites the example of Henrik Larsson in assessing the question of whether Scott Brown should start Sunday’s Scottish Cup final against Hearts.

The Slovakian, who claimed a hatful of honours with the Parkhead side between 1998 and 2002, did so with the Swedish striker the heartbeat of Celtic’s team - as is Brown now in a different fashion.

However, the contribution of Ismaila Soro as Celtic’s mid field screener coinciding with Neil Lennon’ s men rediscovering the winning art in their past two games has put a return for the 35- year-old captain at H amp den in doubt. Even though the Celtic manage rh as said he must show loyalty to the stalwarts who have put the club within a win of a worldfirst quadruple treble.

“I have a lot of respect for Scott Brown because he has spent most of his career at Celtic. That guy is important,” said Moravcik of a performer now in his 14th season with the club. “He is a similar player to Lenny [Neil Lennon] in my time – a good character, a hard worker, a leader. It is a question for Lenny.

"He will make a decision to win the game. If he think he’s going to win the game with Brown he will start him.

"You couldn’t imagine Celtic without Henrik Larsson and Celtic played without Henrik Larsson.

"No b o dy i s irreplaceable.

Scott Brown is a fantastic guy and has played a lot of games for Celtic. But if he’s not starting, it is still 11 against 11."

However, Moravcik added: "I don't know if the young guys are ready for a cup final.

"It is a special game, a final, you have to be psychologically ready to play in an important game.

"Maybe they have the quality to play again. Why not? It is up to Lenny to trust them in the starting 11.

"It is a special game. It is 90 minutes, mayb e ex tr a time against a team who is top of second league.

"It is a little bit dangerous, you have to be mentally ready to play against the team from the second league but it is still hard.

"They are a big club in the history of Scottish football."