The skipper was forced off during the early stages of Celtic’s win over Hibernian on Saturday. The Scott Brown injury will be a key blow to Celtic’s chances of escaping Germany this week with a result.
Brown had just returned from a hamstring compliant which kept him out of Celtic’s 6-0 win over St. Johnstone.
The injury leaves Celtic sweating ahead of next weekend’s crucial league cup semi final against Hearts at Murrayfield.
Celtic have relied heavily upon their captain’s leadership qualities in recent years in European competition. He has shown a high level of maturity under Brendan Rodgers’ guidance since 2016.
Rodgers has been full of praise for Brown, recently linked with a bumper move to the Australian A-League, and has said he’d like to keep his captain but maintains it’s Brown’s decision whether he stays or goes.
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Looking to the future
Brown himself recently stated that he is already looking towards the future after his playing days come to an end. Celtic fans know that sooner rather than later they will have to plan for their leader’s exit.
Under previous regimes, Celtic have often looked lost without their skipper in the engine room. His last extended period of time out the team saw Ronny Deila’s Celtic go through a hard time.
He has managed to stay relatively injury free under Rodgers and has been one of Celtic’s top performers in that time. He capped off a great season last year by winning players’ player of the year.
Celtic have a job on their hands replacing Brown, whenever the time to do so arises. They missed out on John McGinn who signed for Aston Villa in the summer.
Brown himself had earmarked McGinn has his long term replacement at Parkhead but Celtic will have to start again in their search.
Or is the replacement already at Celtic Park? If so that someone will have to step up quickly to the challenge of leading a Celtic team fighting to maintain their domestic dominance.