Brown Unfazed By Fan 'Banter'

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Skipper Scott Brown joked about facing the fury of the Aberdeen fans after scoring the winner against the Dons at Pittodrie.

The Hoops midfielder's early second-half finish from close range, after starting the move at the edge of his own penalty area, was, despite a valiant effort from the Granite City men, what proved to be the difference between the two sides.

As he celebrated behind the goal, at least one missile appeared to be thrown towards him from the stand housing Dons supporters but afterwards the Fifer played it all down.

He said: "Someone threw me a pie. I did try and eat it but it fell out my hands.

"The gaffer wouldn't like it because there are carbs in it.

"A 50 pence? I would have picked that up.

"That would have got me another pie in Fife.

"It is banter isn't it? For 90 minutes they can give me as much as they want and I can give as much as I want but as soon as we come off the field it is all forgotten about."

And it was with some modesty that Brown described his goal which he initiated when he took the ball from Aberdeen midfielder Barry Robson at the edge of the Celtic box.

The Scotland captain said: "Stuart Armstrong twisted and turned and cut it back and to be perfectly honest I couldn't miss. It was ideal for me."

It was the champions' fourth win over Derek McInnes' side this season and it took them 14 points clear of the Dons with two games remaining.

Manager Ronny Deila claimed Brown enjoys the antagonism of away supporters but waxed lyrical about the midfielder's contribution to the cause.

"You know what you get from Broony every time," said the Norwegian.

"He is a class player. You just love to have him in your team.

"I understand people outside the team not liking him so much because he is so good.

"He sets the standard every time. He is a big influence in this team, he has been absolutely brilliant this season.

"He loves winning and is so good with his team-mates.

"We need strong characters to play at this club and he is one of them."

Deila was pleased to complete the clean sweep over Celtic's nearest challengers.

He said: "Aberdeen were good today and it was a good achievement to beat them four times this season."

Aberdeen boss McInnes was pleased with his side's efforts against the visitors in an occasionally fiery contest and is looking to offer up a better challenge to Celtic next season

He said: "We haven't got the results against them and that's played a huge part in the outcome of our league campaign.

"But we'll be ready for them next season - and we'll try and improve.

"Last season we managed to beat Celtic a couple of times but dropped points to other teams.

"This campaign we've been outstanding against the other teams and we have to be pleased with that.

"The two games against Celtic at Pittodrie, where the level of performance was good enough to win the games, we didn't.

"I think you credit Celtic because even when they're not at their best, they still find ways to win.

"I feel as if I have a bit of Celtic in my team at the minute - that mentality.

"We have shown that against others, even when we've not been at our best. It's important we keep that with us."