Scott Brown: Aberdeen are going be our closest title rivals says Celtic midfielder
THE Celtic skipper has dismissed Rangers' title chances and claimed Derek McInnes' men will be their nearest rivals
SCOTT BROWN has dismissed Rangers’ title chances and claimed that Aberdeen will be Celtic’s closest rivals this season.
The Dons have been Premiership runners-up behind the Hoops for the past two campaigns but bookies have tipped Mark Warburton’s Gers to run Celts closest this time.
However Broony disagrees.
He said: “I think it will be Aberdeen, after the last couple of seasons.
“They’ve been exciting to watch and have taken points off us. We struggled up there so we’ll need to do a bit better this season.”
Celtic host Rangers on September 10 in the first Old Firm game of the season, but Brown isn’t solely focusing on that.
He said: “It will be good. A Rangers-Celtic game is always good in a packed stadium, but we have a lot of big games before then. That’s down the line.
“We’ll see when it comes. That’s the fifth game of the season so we have a few before that.
“Aberdeen and Hearts have been great during the last few seasons and we expect more of the same from those two.”
Brown was speaking at a Ladbrokes SPFL event at Hampden, where he joined every Premiership captain.
’ Hoops kick off the defence of their crown against Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.
And Broony insists that bagging a sixth successive title is the No1 aim for Celtic this season.
He said: “The league is always the priority.
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“It’s huge for us to get six-in-a-row.
“We are determined to defend the title this season. Last season was a little bit disappointing overall, but we still got the job done. We fought hard and we deserved it.
“Hopefully we can do the same this year. We have started off well in the Champions League qualifiers and hopefully we can push on in the league.
“Training has been exceptional under the new gaffer.
“He’s a great boss to work under.
“He had Swansea and Liverpool playing good football — and we are trying to do that too.
“We have a long way to go but everyone is enjoying it.
“The manager has already strengthened the team with and Moussa Dembele, and hopefully we can improve.”
Celtic have had a packed schedule of friendlies and Champions League qualifiers since returning in late June.
Brown is confident the Hoops can see off Kazakh side Astana tomorrow and also believes it will help them hit the ground running in the Premiership.
He said: “We could have nicked another goal over in Astana but we’re now looking forward to the game on Wednesday.
“These matches will stand us in good stead for the league.
“We are eight or nine games deep already and hopefully that helps us.”