Neil Lennon has had one player to rely on through the tribulations of the International Break, the first name on his team-sheet.
In his last two domestic appearances Scott Brown has been utterly dominant with 14 days of clear preparation for Saturday’s match, normally the captain crams five appearances into that sort of time period.
Some amateur analysts fell into the annual trap of writing off the Fifer but the wiser heads among the Celtic support knew better.
After a tough night against Riga Brown dominated at home to Hibs, when the chips were down at St Johnstone Lennon played the Broony card with a draw turned into a late win.
Together over the last week and a half at Lennoxtown they have quietly gone about their preparations with Lennon delighted to have the serial winner to lead his side and impose his plan on the park.
He told The Sun:
Scott Brown has been through everything in his time as a Celtic player and captain. His experience will be absolutely pivotal for us going into the game.
It’s early in the season and the league won’t be defined by this game We’ll be very calm about things in the run-up to the game and we’ll be very calm about our play in the game as well.
Our recent form has been fantastic. We’ve won eight games in a row. This team can handle the pressure. It’s remarkable when you look at these players’ consistency. That’s reflected in the trophy count over the years.
Lennon’s international players return from duty today but it won’t be until tomorrow that he can put some names to his plans for Saturday’s derby match.
