Neil Lennon reveals Scott Brown and Steve Clarke have held talks over Scotland return

Neil Lennon revealed yesterday that Scott Brown has had previous discussions with Steve Clarke over the possibility of coming out of international retirement but maintained that a Scotland return for the Celtic 
captain wouldn’t necessarily be straightforward.

Scott Brown has hinted at a Scotland return despite twice retiring from international football. Picture: Alan Harvey/SNS

The potential for Brown, pictured, to play in the Euro 2020 play-offs in March has been raised after the 34-year-old said on Thursday that he would “never say never” about stepping back into the international domain he vacated for a second time two years ago.

Lennon, his club manager has no doubt his captain would be an asset to Clarke’s Scotland but accepted that there could be issues to be resolved ahead of any international comeback.

“It’ll be down to the chat between those two [Brown and Clarke],” the Celtic manager said. “I think they’ve had conversations before but I don’t know whether or not that line is still open.

“The midfield’s functioned very well for Scotland in their last few games and you have Scott McTominay to come back in as well. First of all, there would need to be a conversation between Steve Clarke and Broony and then I’ll need to have a conversation with him as well. He’s currently
getting a benefit from not playing international football but how much I don’t know; he’s certainly playing very well at the moment and there’s no question he could still make a contribution to the Scottish team.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was to be called up but then we’d need to talk about it.

“I totally get the attraction for Scott of having an appearance at a major finals on his CV but how would his comeback affect the rest of the group, the people who’ve been performing?

“Ultimately, it’ll come down to Steve’s call and then we’ll take it from there.”