Brown Buoyed By Fletcher Rivalry

Scott Brown feels the rejuvenation of Darren Fletcher can only be good for Scotland and himself. Brown faces rivalry for the captain's armband when Scotland host Gibraltar on Sunday after Fletcher's impressive display in the 1-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland on Wednesday. The 31-year-old led out the team and helped push them on with his passing as he showed the benefits of the regular football he has played since moving from Manchester United to West Brom on transfer deadline day. It was Fletcher's first international start since the 2-1 defeat in Germany in September - when Brown was injured - and his first 90 minutes since 2012, before he was forced to take an extended break from the game because of illness. But with James Morrison and Brown looking to come back in, and James McArthur also aiming to keep his place in central midfield, the former Old Trafford vice-captain is by no means certain to start against UEFA's newest members. It shows how strong our squad (is) when you've got people like Darren, James and myself, and lots of people who aren't in the squad,'' Brown said.It shows that everyone has got to be fighting for a place and everyone has to be on top of their game. That's what you need as an international team. Darren is probably the most experienced person in this squad. He has played at a top level and is still a top player. For us to have the benefits of training alongside him, to be anywhere near him, to chat to him and learn from his experiences as well, it means a lot to everyone in the dressing room.'' Brown has captained the side most often under Gordon Strachan and Fletcher has been a major role model for him.Darren was a huge help for me when I first came into the squad,'' the 29-year-old said. I will always thank him for that. He speaks well to the younger ones. I think everyone in that dressing room is the exact same.It's a friendly bunch of lads and it's a good place to be at the moment. Hopefully when the young lads come in, everyone is doing the same as Darren was when he spoke to me.'' If Brown captains the side, which his appearance at Saturday's pre-match media conference suggests will happen, one of his main tasks will be to keep his team-mates settled if an early goal does not come against the Group D minnows. That's when the maturity of the lads has got to come in,'' the Celtic skipper said.We have got to keep the ball and keep doing what we are aiming to do. We can't panic just because a couple of people get on our back and start lumping balls into the box every two seconds.'' Meanwhile, Brown brushed off a question about his recent appearance on the front page of a newspaper, photographed in an inebriated state, four days before Celtic's Scottish League Cup final win over Dundee United. I'm just worrying about what I do with Scotland,'' he said.I think I work as hard as anybody else.''