‘That game was a one-off’ – Scott Brown fires warning ahead of Celtic v Rangers

Thu 28 December 2017 13:58, UK

Scott Brown has warned Rangers not to take any idea from Celtic’s 4-0 defeat to Hearts which saw the Hoops’ unbeaten run come to an end.

The Scottish champions had gone a record 69 games defeat before suffering a crushing defeat in Edinburgh earlier this month, the Celtic defence failed to cope with the physical presence of Hearts.

Brown, as quoted by Sky Sports ahead of Saturday’s Old Firm derby, believes that the result against Hearts will have no bearing on the derby.

“We’ve played against so many different teams, we play in different styles, different philosophies that we can manage anything. That game was a just a one-off,” he bullishly claimed.

The Celtic captain may be correct in his assumption as since the game against Hearts the Bhoys have played three league games and won all three without conceding any goals, and have made a change in central defence, with the 19-year-old Norwegian Kristoffer Ajer replacing Jozo Simunovic.

The Hoops go into the derby 11 points clear of their old rivals, and are won five of six matches between the sides last season, a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park when Graeme Murty was Rangers interim manager.

Pedro Caixinha was in charge of Rangers in the first match between the teams this season at Ibrox in September was dominated by the Bhoys who comfortably won 2-0 thanks to goals from Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths.