Scott Brown back in Tony Mowbray's squad as Calderwood reunites with Severin

SCOTT Brown is back in the Celtic squad as they look to make the most of their game in hand in the SPL title race tonight.

The Scotland midfielder has been sidelined since limping out of the Europa League defeat against Hamburg at Celtic Park on 22 October. Brown has since undergone ankle surgery for a second time and played 45 minutes of a closed door friendly match against Hamilton last week.

The 24-year-old could now earn a place on the bench for Celtic against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park as they look to reduce Rangers' advantage at the top of the SPL to seven points.

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray, who last month denied a report he had informed Brown he was planning to sell him, said: "Scott trained today and he is anxious to get back involved. I've stuck his name on our squad and let's see whether we include him or not."

Mowbray, who may hand new loan signing Diomansy Kamara his debut, appreciates the pressure remains firmly on his chasing side in the championship race but says they will head down the M77 in confident mood.

"Kilmarnock will make it hard for us," said Mowbray, "and I understand that the longer the game stays at 0-0, the harder it becomes. But we will go to Rugby Park ready for a tough test and hope that our quality helps us get the win.

"It's about trying to win the three points. We will go to Kilmarnock feeling very positive and we will do all we can to get the win."

Mowbray's men will be facing a Kilmarnock side which could potentially feature three new signings of their own.

New Rugby Park manager Jimmy Calderwood yesterday confirmed the signing of former Aberdeen captain Scott Severin on loan, along with his Watford team-mate Rob Kiernan, also on loan. As the transfer deadline loomed closer, Aberdeen striker Chris Maguire was also signed on loan until the end of the season.

The moves reunited Calderwood with Severin, who was his captain during the manager's time at Aberdeen, as well as 21-year-old Maguire, who he helped to bring through from the youth ranks during his Pittodrie spell.

"We've not got such a big squad and we've got four or five big players out," said Calderwood, who

admitted he had not personally watched Celtic live this season but was not sure it would have done much good anyway, considering last night's transfer activity.

"Tony's changed it around a lot so it'll be interesting," he said. "But you know how Celtic are. They've been trying to play the same way for years and years. They always try to play football.

"The pressure's always on the Old Firm; we've got nothing to lose, and hopefully we can give it a good go."

Calderwood hopes Rugby Park plays its part tomorrow night. "It's always a wonderful atmosphere at the old stadium," he said.

And despite many of his players beginning to tire after such a hectic recent schedule, Calderwood said: "These are the games you want to be involved in as a player and you don't really feel the tiredness at that moment in time."