Scott Brown backs Falkirk youngsters

FALKIRK manager Steven Pressley may have spent a good chunk of his playing career with Hearts, but Celtic captain Scott Brown reckons Elvis has his young Falkirk side playing like the Hibs team in which Brown made his name.

A youthful Bairns outfit impressed many at Hampden on Sunday despite their 3-1 defeat to Celtic in the League Cup semi-final, and their display drew words of praise from Brown.

“There are similarities between this crop of players and the group we had at Hibs,” Brown told The Sun. “They have real talent.”

Brown, who broke into the Hibs first team around the same time as Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker and Steven Fletcher, added: “It would be good for them to stay where they are and get some experience before moving on.”

Meanwhile, the other League Cup finalists, Kilmarnock, could have legendary Italian coach Marcello Lippi back at Hampden to support them on their big day – if captain Manual Pascali has his way.

Pascali, who acted as a translator for Lippi when he made the Scottish Cup draw earlier this month, told the Daily Record: “I told him he’d be my guest if we reached the final.”