Lennon confident Brown will handle Gers’ grilling
Brown has clashed with El-Hadji Diouf in recent Glasgow derbies and the on-loan Arsenal youngster, who was deemed lucky only to be booked three minutes into his Old Firm debut last week for a foul on the Scotland midfielder, rekindled the fire again at the Ibrox Stadium at the weekend.
Bartley said: “Not many people at Rangers get on with Scott Brown and I’m not his biggest fan so we will see what happens in the next game.”
His remarks come in a week that saw Police Federation chairman Les Gray claim that scrapping the Old Firm fixtures was the only way to stop the “murder and mayhem” that regularly follows the games.
When asked about the police viewpoint, the Celtic boss would only say: “It is one of the great fixtures in football, leave it at that,” but revealed he had no plans for a pep talk with his skipper.
“Scotty can look after himself and he has proved that this season,” said Lennon.
“There will be no special talk. Players know that discipline is important in these games but they should relish the challenge.”
After the 2-0 defeat by Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday, the Hoops’ first defeat in 18 games, Lennon is looking for his players to recapture their hunger against their Old Firm rivals, whom they beat convincingly 3-0 in their last meeting.
“It is only 10 days ago so it will be fresh in their minds,” he said.
“I want to see that hunger again,” he said. “We are looking for a positive reaction.”
Fraser Forster and Joe Ledley are suspended but Lennon has “no qualms” about bringing in number two keeper Lukasz Zaluska and is looking to for Beram Kayal to replace Ledley in midfield after serving a one-game ban.
“It is a new keeper but he is a good keeper,” the Irishman said. “I have no qualms about him playing tomorrow night.”
Meanwhile Ally McCoist admitted the Rangers players had been reminded of their responsibilities on and off the pitch as they look to atone for their recent Parkhead defeat.
Rangers manager Walter Smith summoned his squad to a meeting the day after a one-sided 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park, which left them eight points behind in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
The players were given guidelines on looking after themselves off the park and not getting involved in disputes with their Old Firm rivals on social network websites.
The reaction has been instant with a morale-boosting Europa League success against Sporting Lisbon followed by a 4-0 win over St Johnstone, which cut the gap on Celtic back to five points following their defeat at Motherwell.
Assistant manager McCoist said: “We just had a chat. It was a little bit worrying the way we performed and passed the ball. Everybody had an opinion.
“Sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder before it’s too late. They are an intelligent group of players and know what’s expected of them both on and off the park.”
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