Brown eager to take place of Boruc

MARK Brown has assured Celtic manager Gordon Strachan he is ready for a Champions League test if first-choice goalkeeper Artur Boruc fails to recover from a toe problem.

Brown stepped in at short notice against Aberdeen on Saturday after Boruc had problems kicking the ball in the warm-up.

The former Motherwell and Inverness goalkeeper did not have a serious shot to save in a comfortable 3-0 victory for the league leaders. But he insists he is sharp enough to face Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday after his first appearance since the 1-1 Champions League qualifying draw at Spartak Moscow on August 15.

Brown said: “It’s not like I was inactive. I have played a lot of reserve games and you do the same training.

“The standard of the opponents goes up from the reserves but you just have to get on with that and not worry about it.”

Rangers stayed three points behind their Old Firm rivals after a hard-fought 3-1 success at Falkirk.

Goals from Carlos Cuellar and Jean-Claude Darcheville put Rangers into a deserved 2-0 lead before the hour mark, but the Bairns stormed back to gave Walter Smith’s men a real fright.

Substitute Pedro Moutinho struck after 62 minutes before goalkeeper Allan McGregor superbly denied Graham Barrett and stopped a near-own goal from Alan Hutton.

Late replacement Kris Boyd sealed the victory late on, Rangers’ first SPL away win since August 25 at Kilmarnock.