Alan Stubbs has elected to include Celtic captain Scott Brown in his combined Old Firm XI – at the expense of Rangers midfelder Ryan Jack.
Both Glasgow giants are set to square off at Parkhead this weekend for their first meeting of 2020.
With the 2019-20 campaign brought to a premature end, confirming Celtic as champions, Neil Lennon’s side missed the chance to face Rangers during the second half of last season.
But hostilities will be renewed on Saturday and Stubbs has been speaking to The Scottish Sun about which Hoops and light Blues stars make the combined starting lineup.
And the former Celtic defender has punted for the 35-year-old Brown to be in there instead of Jack.
The two of them are combative, no-nonsense midfielders who will already be relishing the physical aspect of Saturday’s clash at Paradise.
But despite his advancing years, Stubbs claims that Brown – a £4.4 million signing in 2007 [The Guardian] – has more influence on this Bhoys outfit than Jack does for Steven Gerrard’s Rangers.
He said: “People will look and say there’s no Rangers players in my midfield, but if you look at my three selections it’s easy to see why. I think Ryan Jack’s similar to Scott Brown, but I still think Brown has a huge influence on the Celtic team. Broony is obviously into the latter stages of his career but people can still see how much he’s missed when he’s not in the team.
“He’s still got an aura about him, he still commands respect from his team-mates, he’s still really fit.”
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