Celtic patient as Brown awaits exact diagnosis for ankle injury

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 22:53

CELTIC manager Tony Mowbray has revealed Scott Brown will stay on the sidelines until specialists agree the diagnosis on his ongoing ankle complaint.

The Scotland midfielder has struggled for fitness since undergoing ankle surgery in the summer and a trip to see a specialist in London in October failed to solve the problem. Brown has been left out completely since the Europa League game against Hamburg in Germany a month ago and will stay out while a fresh search for a cure continues.

Ahead of tomorrow's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Dundee United at Tannadice, Mowbray said: "Scott is not ready for this weekend. We are canvassing a few opinions from specialists at the moment, so let's wait and see over the next few weeks. We are giving him the chance to make sure we get the right diagnosis.

"We are taking opinions and there are a few people with different opinions. But we have to do what is the very best for him and make sure that we put his welfare first before everything else. I don't want to continue the scenario with Scott of playing for a few weeks then missing a few weeks.

"We are not overly concerned but we have to make sure that he is not playing through gritted teeth. I want him back 100 per cent."

One player who will be fit for the trip to Tayside is striker Georgios Samaras, who set up the winning goal for Greece in Ukraine on Wednesday night which booked his country a place in next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.

"I'm tired but happy," he said. "It has been a great week. I came back yesterday and had to get three flights to make training and then afterwards I went home to sleep.

"We have time until the summer, until the World Cup, and I just want us to be fit and healthy for this massive party. But I will be ready for Sunday."