We won’t be bullied, insists Celtic skipper Brown

SCOTT BROWN insists he is relishing the prospect of a physical battle in today’s Betfred League Cup final — but has warned the Motherwell players to keep their elbows down.

The Celtic captain maintains he has no problem with the direct, aggressive style of football that Stephen Robinson has deployed to such great effect this season, so long as it stays within the laws of the game.

Well’s semi-final victory came with some controversy thanks to the ugly injury sustained by Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso following a flying arm from striker Ryan Bowman.

A combative midfielder by trade, Brown is prepared to go toe-to-toe with the Steelmen at Hampden but has called for a fair fight.

He said: ‘There is not a problem as long as it is all within the laws and they do it properly. Everyone wants to be physical. I am physical in a tackle as long as I am going to win but I am not a dirty player. As long as they play fair we will play fair.’

During the build-up to the match Fir Park defender Peter Hartley railed against criticism of his team’s style of play, insisting those who complain should stick to basketball.

‘It is a contact sport but you can’t raise elbows — that is the difference,’ responded Brown. ‘Once you hit someone on the face with an elbow you can knock them out, you can concuss them. It is not what football is about. We try and play the proper way but we are also aggressive in the tackle and we believe when you go in to win it, you win the ball.’

Brown (right) has backed his team-mates to handle whatever comes their way this afternoon as they seek a fourth trophy under Brendan Rodgers.

‘We have strength in

CALL it second-season syndrome or maybe an acute case of claustrophobia. Either way, Scott Sinclair has, by his own admission, cut a frustrated figure of late. A marked man after a perfect debut campaign at Celtic, Scotland’s reigning Player of the Year has found himself crowded out and the lack of space has taken its toll.

In fairness to the winger, it was never likely that he could top a debut season in which he scored 25 goals, swept the boards at the various player of the year awards and helped Brendan Rodgers’ team to march unbeaten to a Treble.

And, as he points out, he has hardly been in dreadful form and his 11-goal return makes him Celtic’s top scorer for the term ahead of both Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele.

Yet the 28-year-old is honest enough to admit that he is having to adjust to new challenges in the supposedly-inferior world of the SPFL Premiership.

‘On a personal note, defenders are doubling up on me,’ says Sinclair, a £3.5million signing from Aston Villa in August of last year.

‘That wasn’t happening last season. I’m getting a player standing next to me for the whole game doing nothing.

‘It’s making it much harder for me to get on the ball. It makes my job harder. I’ve got to come up with different things to go forward, create and score goals, but I’ve been doing so.

‘People can talk to me about having lost my form but it’s not the case. The stats are still not too bad but it’s up to me to make more happen.’

If Sinclair has been stifled, the extra attention afforded to the former Manchester City wide man has afforded extra scope for Kieran Tierney to bomb down Celtic’s left.

Tierney picked up the Ladbrokes player of the month award for October, but the young full-back would admit his rapport with his English team-mate has been key to his development.

‘If I have two on me then there is always going to be one spare man, which is great for us,’ says Sinclair. ‘I’m sure we can exploit that.

‘It has been frustrating for me, 100 per cent. It comes to the stage where the guy is literally with you the whole game, you come deep, you go long, you go all the way back to right-back and he’s still there.

‘The key is to stay patient. The first 45 it is going to be difficult to get on the ball, it might have to just be bits and pieces.

‘Some players try to psyche you out, but there will always be a moment. A defender might man-mark me for 89 minutes and then I’ll get away from him and get the goal.

‘It’s a new experience for me. It is about trying to come up with different things in my game — what can I do to get away from my man? What decisions do I make? Do I come deep to get the ball deep or do I go long? Game by game, I look over at all the videos and work at it.’

Sinclair hit the ground running for Celtic, scoring with virtually his first touch to win last term’s opening league game at Hearts. After that, he was essentially undroppable when fit, starting all Celtic’s biggest games both domestically and in Europe.

This term, things have been a little different. Rodgers’ squad rotation means no player is guaranteed a game every week, but Sinclair’s absence from the starting line-up against closest challengers Aberdeen at Pittodrie last month was unusual.

In midweek he was once again left out, an unused substitute in the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes.

‘When the manager makes a decision, you just have to accept it,’ he reflects. ‘Throughout my career, there have been things I’ve had to deal with.’

If, as seems likely, Sinclair is restored to the starting XI for today’s Betfred League Cup final against Motherwell, he is not likely to be spared the close attention of an eager defender.

Under Stephen Robinson, Motherwell have revelled in a physical approach, one that does not make allowances for players of Sinclair’s dribbling ability.

‘We can’t flinch from that,’ he continues. ‘That won’t stop us. When teams are physical against us, I’m sure we can match that.

‘We have confidence in the team and as much hunger as them, so if they do that we will match them.’

If this term has brought its problems for Sinclair, Rodgers has never had cause to doubt the player’s adaptability.

The pair first worked together in the Chelsea youth academy where Sinclair was required to learn a new position.

‘Scott came in at 16 from Bristol Rovers and he was a striker,’ recalls Rodgers. ‘He was fast and had an eye for goal, but I never felt he was going to play for the firstteam as a striker. He had the pace to threaten in behind, but back-to-goal maybe not the physical side you wanted. ‘We switched him to the side and he started to learn about the role because he had an instinct for goal, he would run in. ‘You see the maturity in his game now. He has always been a worker, a boy who puts the graft in. His strengths at that time were he could score with either foot and tactically it was always the case of improving his game, but he always had to play within a specific set-up of a team to show his talents. ‘It’s pretty clear that the energy an opponent will put into playing against us this year is higher, that’s for sure, but it’s up to us to try and find a way to negate that. ‘Scott has faced a lot of man-marking since he’s been up here, which is okay, you learn to deal with that, to combine quicker with your team-mates; but also you have to be unselfish at times.

‘If someone is man-marking you, just take them for a walk and you are then creating space for someone else. If someone marks you, they are giving away ownership of their game to you, so you have to exploit that.’

Sinclair missed last year’s League Cup final victory over Aberdeen and, although he was able to secure a medal in order to collect the full set for the season, he would like to fully earn his souvenir this time.

He added: ‘That would have been my first final with Celtic, so it was really disappointing to miss out.

‘The manager pulled me afterwards and gave me a medal and, having played in all the games leading up I felt I deserved it.

‘I’ll still feel like I earned it more this year if I play and we can win, though.

‘It’s different when you start a game and win it.’

People say to me that I’ve lost my form, but I know that is not the case