The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Brown fired up for Rangers
Celtic captain warns Ibrox men as Hoops chase point for title
Scott Brown says his Celtic side are ready to take out their frustrations on Rangers after Hibernian crashed their title party.
The Hoops missed out on the chance to wrap up seven-in-a-row as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Easter Road on Saturday.
But the championselect have the chance to celebrate in style when they host Rangers at Parkhead on Sunday.
And Brown is determined to savour the occasion as his side look to heap more misery on the Ibrox men two weeks on from ripping them apart in a 4-0 Scottish Cup semifinal rout.
The Celtic captain said: “It’s always special to win a title at Celtic Park and to do it against Rangers would be fantastic. I’m sure the fans will be loving it.
“If we could win it, it would be the sweetest Rangers-Celtic victory I’ve ever experienced.
“Do we have a psychological edge over them after what happened in the semi-final? Yeah, that’s now 10 games we’re undefeated against them so that speaks for itself.
“It was a disappointing result at the weekend but this will be a great way to bounce back. Should Rangers expect a backlash? Yes!
“The fans will love the occasion. It will put a smile back on everyone’s faces.
“But we need to make sure we turn up and do our job. We’ve had a couple of hard games against them this season but the lads are looking forward to it.
“Rangers are going to have to come after us a little bit more and try to set their own mark on the game. But we’ll do what we always do. We’ll turn up, we’ll play our own game – and when we do that we know we can beat any team in this country.”
A point is all Celtic need for the championship.
Brown has again been the lynchpin of Brendan Rodgers’ side – a fact recognised as he was named player of the year
“Do we have a psychological edge over them? Yeah”
by both the Parkhead faithful and his team-mates at Celtic’s annual awards ceremony.
But the captain reckons winger James Forrest should have picked up at least one of the prizes.
“I was a little bit surprised,” he said. “My season has been quite good, I’ve stayed injury free, but for me Jamesy Forrest has been outstanding this season.”
News that Arsene Wenger will leave Arsenal this summer has seen Rodgers linked with a move to north London, but Brown hopes his boss will be staying put.
“We hope he stays. He’s loving his time here and now he’s got this seventh title to wrap up too,” he said.