captain's role for scott brown

Laura Brannan
SCOTT Brown has been handed the Celtic club captaincy following the departure of Stephen McManus during the January transfer window.

The midfielder will stand in for McManus who is on loan to Middlesbrough until the end of the season.

Brown returned from injury last Tuesday against Kilmarnock and made his first appearance since October, coming on as a substitute for Lee Naylor. And Tony Mowbray believes this new role will be beneficial to the team and to the player.

“Scott Brown is at the stage in his career where the responsibility will be good for him,” the Celtic manager said.

“I understand Scott’s personality. He wants to win and he wants to be a winner out on the field.

“He pushes himself extremely hard for that and that’s not a bad ingredient to have sometimes. We shouldn’t be criticising him for the fire in his belly.

“When Scott’s fit and available and in the team, then he will lead the team out with the armband on.”

Brown played 60 minutes and scored in the reserves’ friendly against Drogheda on Tuesday night. He scored Celtic’s second in the 3-1 victory and is in the squad for Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Dunfermline.