Sport

Valiant Brown shows Celtic's spirit

Hibernian 0 Celtic 2 CELTIC MANAGER Gordon Strachan insists Scott Brown exemplifies the spirit running through the Parkhead …

Mon Mar 03 2008 - 00:00

Hibernian 0 Celtic 2CELTIC MANAGER Gordon Strachan insists Scott Brown exemplifies the spirit running through the Parkhead side as they seek to extend their participation in this season's Champions League campaign.

The Scottish champions flew out to Barcelona yesterday morning from Glasgow airport for the second leg of their Champions League clash nursing the bruises from a tough 2-0 win over Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday.

On-loan striker Georgios Samaras came on for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in the 72nd minute and three minutes later scored the clincher with only his second touch, a header from an Aiden McGeady cross.

Midfielder Brown limped around in the final moments of the first half but recovered to put in a second half and Vennegoor of Hesselink's withdrawal was with an eye on his hamstring injury which had kept him out for the previous two games.

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Celtic have to try and overhaul a 3-2 deficit from the first leg but Strachan believes his players will certainly not lack tenacity and determination. He said:

"There were a few knocks and bruises, to be honest . . . we had a big game coming up but you could see by their commitment that didn't affect them one little bit.

"Brown was fantastic. At half-time I thought there was no chance of him going on again. But he was determined, he was angry and got stuck in."

Strachan will decide whether to start with Vennegoor of Hesselink or Samaras as partner to Scott McDonald in the Nou Camp but it is a dilemma he is more than happy to contemplate.

Strachan said: "Georgios did well for us in the last two games. He can't remember when he last started two games so I thought three was maybe a bit too much for him in the one week. We got 70 minutes out of Jan to make sure he protected his hamstring so it worked out okay."

HIBERNIAN: McNeil, Gathuessi, Hogg, Canning, Zarabi, Kerr (Zemmama 76), Beuzelin (Chisholm 16), Murray, Rankin, Fletcher, Nish (O'Brien 75). Subs not used: Grof, Morais, Campbell, Hanlon. Booked: Murray, Rankin, Chisholm.

CELTIC: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura (Robson 85), Scott Brown, Donati (Hartley 82), McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras 72), McDonald. Subs not used: Mark Brown, O'Dea, Sno, Riordan. Booked: Donati.

Referee: I Brines (Scotland).