‘It was more the week in Dubai, hard work’: Scott Brown claims Celtic’s winter break has been more important to the impressive domestic form in 2020 than Rangers’ defeat
- Celtic has increased the lead at the top of the Premiership from two points to 13
- They saw Rangers celebrate a victory at Celtic Park for the first time in nine years
- But they recovered well and got 28 points out of a possible 30
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Scott Brown claims that Celtic’s mid-season break was more important than the pain of losing Rangers by inducing their impressive domestic form in 2020.
Celtic has increased their lead at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership from two points to 13 since their derby defeat on December 29.
Brown had to see Rangers players celebrate a victory at Celtic Park for the first time in nine years before going three weeks without a match.
Scott Brown claims Celtic’s mid-season break was more important than the pain of losing Rangers to spark their impressive domestic form in 2020
There was plenty of time to steam over the setback, but Celtic has excelled since the return by taking 28 out of 30 points and reaching the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup, while Rangers have toiled.
And Brown claims it was off-time that helped rather than shock their derby loss.
“It was more than a week in Dubai, hard work,” he said. “It was clearly painful to take. We understand that. We had two weeks to think, work hard and understand how to rectify that.
“Since we came back, we have been in great shape and we just need to make sure we continue that as the season progresses.
“Dubai has been good for us in the past three years. We had a mini preseason, worked hard, also had some chill time.
“We were working on a 3-5-2, we were working on a 4-2-3-1. It was difficult to get training in December with the nine or ten games we had.
They saw Rangers celebrate a victory at Celtic Park for the first time in nine years
“It was a good time for us to think about what we may not have done well in the first part of the season and what we can do better in the second.”
Some have argued that the post-match celebrations of the Rangers players and coaching staff were premature and exaggerated after their victory at Celtic Park, especially given their later form.
But Brown stayed clear of such an area during his pre-game press conference.
“Fair play, they won the game, they deserved to celebrate,” he said. “We’ll wait and see what happens on Sunday.”
When asked if he had added motivation to rectify the defeat, he said, ‘We are desperate for a match. We are good now, we are playing well, we just have to make sure we keep our current form.
“We’re not concerned about anyone else, we’re just concerned about the boys in that dressing room and how well we can play and how well we can push each other up.”
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