...but Hearts No 2 insists there is no chance Brown won’t be leading Bhoys

LEE McCULLOCH has heard the debate, done all the analysis, factored in all the possibilities and arrived at the only conclusion he believes makes any sense.

That there’s no way Hearts will line up at Hampden and not be facing Scott Brown in the Celtic midfield.

The Tynecastle No2, a veteran of two Scottish Cup wins as a player, understands exactly what the inspirational Celts captain is going through just now, his diminishment as a player amplified exponentially with every mistake made because of his advancing years.

However he believes experience and not age will be the key to his emergence from the tunnel of the national stadium on Sunday with the armband on, displacing Ismaila Soro from the starting line-up.

‘Do I expect us to be facing Scott?’ said McCulloch. ‘Yes, I certainly do. The experience he has, the things he has won in his career?

‘The number of times where I’ve seen Celtic take a slight dip, in whatever season, it would always be Scott Brown who would put himself up there at the front to get shot at.

‘And eight or nine times out of 10 in the last so many years, he has come through that with flying colours.

‘When you get to his age at 35, he’ll be feeling this, and I’ve been there, all of sudden if you make one bad pass, or do something wrong, you’re too old, you’ve lost it, your legs have gone, get the young ones in.

‘He has shown a tremendous mentality all throughout his career and I am certainly not doubting him. He will have a big part to play, not just in the final but also this season coming.’

McCulloch, now learning his dugout tradecraft under Robbie Neilson, is happy to pay the Hearts manager what he believes is his ultimate compliment.

‘He’s very mature,’ said the former Rangers midfielder. ‘He reminds me — and I’m not trying to put pressure on him — of Walter Smith.

‘He has the serious look, he has the nasty side, a touch of old-school mentality but I feel he’s a modern-day coach with his set-up. There’s a lot of analysis done and he’s only going to get better as well. His career so far, when you look at being in Europe with Hearts the first time, winning the Championship with Dundee United and then coming back to Hearts, he’s had experience.

‘I’m not saying he’s won enough stuff to back that up but I can only go on all the managers I’ve seen and he’s 100 per cent in the top five by a mile.’