Let BATTLE commence

Hughes has a hunch tangle for supremacy among big three is about to get interesting

I’ll be really intrigued to see what happens with this trio of top players

JOHN HUGHES may ‘love everything about Scott Brown’ but he has very personal reasons to root for two players who he believes will carry the fight to the Celtic captain next season.

Brown remains the undisputed king of Scottish football’s midfield battleground but Hughes can’t wait to see Scott Arfield and Graeme Shinnie mixing it with the country’s multiple Player of the Year winner.

Hughes foresees Arfield adding some much-needed bite to the Rangers midfield. He brought the 29-year-old through at Falkirk and watched on in admiration as he developed into a Premier League powerhouse at Burnley.

He has been similarly thrilled to see Shinnie, his Scottish Cupwinning skipper at Inverness, develop into Derek McInnes’s onfield leader at Pittodrie and finally pick up his first Scotland caps against Peru and Mexico.

Shinnie signed off the domestic campaign with a thudding tackle on Brown as league runners-up Aberdeen won at Parkhead on the last day of the season. Brown responded by questioning the 26-year-old’s quality.

Brown and double Treble winners Celtic may reign supreme but Hughes admits he can barely wait for the next round of hostilities.

‘As a follower of Scottish football I’m intrigued at what will happen when Arfield and Shinnie go toe-totoe with Broony,’ said Hughes.

‘Because he is the man. Broony is the best midfielder and I love everything about him.

‘Some things never change. I’ve always been brought up believing that if you win those midfield battles, nine times out of ten you win the game. I will be really intrigued to see what happens with these three players.’

Last season Arfield dropped down the pecking order as Burnley scaled new heights to clinch a Europa League spot but Hughes insists Steven Gerrard will be receiving a player in his prime as he embarks on his Ibrox rebuild for next season.

While Brown, who turns 33 this month, has remodelled his game to become the deep-lying anchor of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side, Hughes (below) believes Arfield will want to contribute higher up the pitch, thus bringing himself into direct opposition with Brown.

‘As a young player Broony was box-to-box, really high energy,’ he noted. ‘Now he has adapted he can come off, start the play and drop between the centre-halves, although he can still bomb on now and again and is still on the high press.

‘I think Arfield has learned enough down the road to come back up and be the Scotty Brown of Rangers but I don’t think he is ready for that sitting-off role. He has enough in his legs to go box-to-box. I think he will be more up and down, getting in there and he will train to do that. ‘He can play as No10, he can play left or right and come off the sides. ‘I asked him and he says he wants to play midfield, so he is going to have to go toe-to-toe with Broony. ‘The reason we are mentioning Broony is because Celtic are the best and he is the best midfielder around. No doubt. And getting better as the years go by. ‘He won Player of the Year and you look at the Old Firm games, when the scrutiny is on, he is man of the match.’

The challenge of subduing Brown has been one with which Shinnie has struggled over the past couple of seasons. Even when Celtic’s domestic form has dipped, the very mention of Aberdeen and a prospective title bid from the north east has seemed enough to get the juices flowing in Rodgers’ team.

Two of Celtic’s most convincing performances of the season came at Pittodrie, the second of which featured a red card for Dons sub Sam Cosgrove, who was sent off for a wild lunge on Brown.

The sight of Brown bouncing back up from that tackle and puffing out his chest struck a chord with Hughes. ‘He stands up to it, he takes it, he gets stuck in and it’s great for the game,’ enthused Hughes, a battle-hardened defender for Hibs and Celtic in his day.

‘Scott Brown will be rubbing his hands and respect the fact someone is going to get stuck in about him.

‘It’s part and parcel of the game. You give it out and take it. It’s a sign of respect. Shinnie is a very respectful boy but he is a winner.

‘If you are going to be intimidated or be a shrinking violet you are better not putting the shirt on.

‘He did great for me at Inverness but to then go and take the armband at Aberdeen within four or five months — that tells you what Derek thinks of him.

‘He is quality, everything you want at your football club. First on the training pitch, last off it, fit as a fiddle and so conscientious he always wants to do extra.

‘I’ve been banging the drum for him for a while and it’s great to see him getting that recognition with Scotland.’

For Arfield, the recipient of 17 Scotland Under-21 caps, the call to represent his country at full international level never came. Eventually he acceded to the overtures from the Canadian FA and has been turning out for the land of his father’s birth.

‘I’ve spoken to Scott about this and I must say I was a wee bit disappointed Gordon (Strachan) never capped him,’ continued Hughes. ‘He came through the system with Scotland and he was so proud to do it.

‘The fact he was playing in the English Premier League merited a cap and I think he would have been a great player for Alex McLeish right now. He is a Scotsman and where we are now there is a wee transition going on.’

Arfield was sold by Falkirk to Huddersfield for £400,000 in 2010 and Hughes kept close tabs on his progress south of the border, calling

him up occasionally to dispense a few words of advice in that Leith brogue.

‘He fell off the bike a couple of times at Huddersfield but he went again and ended up in the English Premier League,’ added Hughes.

‘To see him there and scoring goals I thought: “Good on you”. I only played a part in his development but I always kept in touch and tried to give him advice on what to do and how to do it.

‘I spoke to him at length and he said he just felt he had been on the bench a bit too often at Burnley. And he is a homebird.

‘He will not let Stevie Gerrard down — that’s for sure. At times he might not have the best of games but in terms of effort and giving you everything he’s got, there’s no question.

‘He lives for his football but he will need a hand in there. I’m intrigued to see exactly what Rangers will do.’

There have been times over the past couple of seasons where Brown has seemed to stroll through games against both Rangers and Aberdeen, his aura alone managing to quell the opposition.

‘Broony is fantastic — you would want him in your team,’ said Hughes. ‘It’s up to the others. If I was playing as centre-half back in the day, up against Ally McCoist, Mark Hateley, whoever, I would stand up and be counted.

‘I wasn’t bothered by reputations, I was going to be in there. And that’s what football is all about. Playing for Aberdeen v Celtic and you are going to lock horns. It’s the same with Celtic v Rangers. I’m sitting rubbing my hands. Bring it on.’