Scott Brown '˜most influential player in Scotland'

Scott Brown is free to face Rangers at Ibrox tomorrow after the red card he received against Ross County was downgraded to yellow.

Celtic captain Scott Brown was named man of the match for his display against Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Picture: Craig Foy/SNS

The Celtic captain was sent off in Dingwall on 16 April for a foul on Liam Boyce in the final minutes of the 2-2 draw in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Celtic chose to contest the decision and, with disciplinary hearings delayed due to the Easter holiday, Brown’s appeal allowed him to play in the 2-0 win over Rangers in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final win at Hampden Park on Sunday.

A Scottish FA disciplinary tribunal met at Hampden yesterday to consider his claim of wrongful dismissal and upheld the appeal, reducing the sending off to a caution.

The tackle was originally deemed to be “serious foul play” by match referee Don Robertson. However, yesterday’s tribunal adjudged Brown to be guilty of the lesser offence of “recklessly dangerous play”.

While Brown will be available to play at Ibrox the yellow card takes him over the disciplinary threshold which triggers a two-game suspension which means he will sit out the subsequent matches against St Johnstone and Aberdeen.

Speaking immediately after the draw in Dingwall, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers initially stated he had no complaints about Brown’s red card. But after reviewing footage he argued that it should be downgraded to a booking.

Rodgers yesterday lauded his captain for his performance against Rangers at Hampden and admitted he would have been a big loss had he been suspended for tomorrow’s match.

“There is no doubt that Scott Brown is the most influential player in Scotland, there are no bones about that,” Rodgers said. “I have been hugely impressed by him, how he has performed. We have had a few games without him this year and the team has done well. But let’s not get away from it, you saw how he performed last weekend [against Rangers at Hampden].

“He was tactically brilliant, in how he operated in the spaces and filled gaps. He pressed the game and then showed his quality. I came up here and people have talked [negatively] about his passing ability. He made two disguised passes through the eye of a needle and you don’t do that unless you have top quality. So he is a player of course you [would] miss.”