Scott Brown warns Celtic's rivals they're aiming for perfection

Scott Brown has issued an ominous warning to the rest of Scottish football after insisting Celtic will not rest in their quest for perfection.

Celtic captain Scott Brown
Published 24th Apr 2017

The rampant Hoops have taken another step towards wrapping up a domestic clean sweep with Sunday's 2-0 win over Rangers in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

They can now complete their first treble success since 2001 when they face Aberdeen in the May 27 final.

The Parkhead men were never in trouble at Hampden as they dominated their Old Firm rivals from start to finish, with Callum McGregor's early opener and a Scott Sinclair penalty sealing their win.

But skipper Brown stressed boss Brendan Rodgers will not allow his men to rest on their laurels.

He said: "We don't want to sit back and settle for what we're doing right now.

"We need to keep getting better and the gaffer is always pushing for that little bit extra.

"It's night and day to how we were last year, we're so much fitter and stronger. The manager has come in and changed a few things, not too many, and it's all showing on the pitch now.

"I think we knew if we turned up that we're the better team, with top quality players that can changes games in an instant, and they showed their quality again today.

"Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and people off the bench like Leigh Griffiths, James Forrest and Tom Rogic - there's not many teams in Scotland with that strength in depth, so we're using our squad really well.

"There was a 15-minute spell during the game where we didn't keep the ball and he was a little bit disappointed in that. But the main thing is we got to the cup final.

"It was an outstanding performance - very, very professional from start to finish.

"We knew if we turned up and played to our strengths with our movement and pace that we could control the game, and we did that for the first 45 minutes

"We knew they would come out the second half and change tactics and the gaffer had already sorted their team at half-time so we were already ahead of them that way.

"We knew they'd come out and press us high up the park and our pace and quality showed in the end."

Gers boss Pedro Caixinha was disappointed his side failed to take the fight to Rodgers' team.

He said: "I think we gave the opponent too much respect, especially in the first half. We dropped off too much on the park. It was not what we were preparing for during the week.

"They deserved to win but we could have done, and should have done, much better."