Celtic are shading the mind games
SCOTT BROWN insists Celtic will go into Sunday’s Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final showdown with a huge psychological advantage after beating Rangers with ten men at Ibrox last month. The Parkhead skipper believes the 3-2 victory, achieved despite Jozo Simunovic being sent off with half an hour left, will be in the back of Graeme Murty’s players’ minds as they try to stop their bitter rivals winning back-to-back Trebles. ‘Will it be in the heads of the Rangers players that we beat them with ten men? It probably will be, yes,’ said Brown, whose side lifted the League Cup against Motherwell last November and
are now just one Premiership win away from clinching seven titles in a row. ‘It must have been hard (for Rangers). For us, on the other hand, it’s pushed us on a bit. ‘It was always going to be hard going down to ten men at Ibrox, especially after 60 minutes. ‘But we had a game plan and we stuck to it. And, luckily enough, big Odsonne Edouard turned up with a worldie of a goal to win it. ‘I think we probably defended even better with ten men than we did with 11 because we knew we had to focus on not having the ball as much as we would have liked. ‘For us, turning up with 11 men at Hampden this weekend will give us confidence. ‘We’ve had great games at Hampden recently and we’ve played really well. We are going into it on good form.’
Rangers boss Murty recently conceded that the Ibrox defeat had cast a long shadow over his dressing room. The last time Rangers defeated Celtic was on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the Scottish Cup semi-final two years ago this month, when Mark Warburton and Ronny Deila were in charge. With Brendan Rodgers at the helm since then, Celtic are unbeaten in nine Old Firm derbies and Brown is
determined to make it ten-in-arow this weekend. ‘Yes, definitely,’ he said. ‘Four or five years ago, we played them seven times in a season and I think everyone probably had enough of it at that point. ‘But for us to go on that run is fantastic. It shows you the quality we have shown in the last two years and how we have turned things around. ‘But I will never get bored of Celtic-Rangers games. I enjoy them more and more — and I think the fans do, too.’ Brown also explained why he wore sunglasses during the Ibrox celebrations last month — and joked they made him resemble American rapper Pitbull. ‘Somebody threw the glasses at me from the crowd,’ he said. ‘Of all the things they could have thrown at me! I had the glasses on for literally a nanosecond. ‘I put them on then took them back off and I was like: “Oh, no!”. But I felt I pulled the look off — like Pitbull!’