I can trust Celtic captain Scott Brown to keep the head against Rangers, says Brendan Rodgers

The focus has been turned on Brown and Joey Barton following a summer in which the Rangers midfielder has made a number of disparaging remarks about the Hoops captain, insisting that Brown is “not in his league.”

Yet, while Brown’s own temperament has got him into trouble previously, Rodgers has backed his skipper to rise above any provocation.

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“I think he has shown great discipline,” said Rodgers. “What you see now with Scott is a 31-year-old man with maturity. A guy who understands the consequence of what happens on the field. And has now matured to a new level.

“You have seen it many a time over the years, that a guy who is really aggressive when they are younger, full of beans, competitive and as they mature they learn how to handle that a wee bit better. That is what I see in Scott. His performances have been a really high level and he is a real driving force in the team.

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“He knows his responsibility when he is in the team.”

After the defeat to Rangers at Hampden last April, Peter Lawwell was in the Celtic dressing room after the game to express his dissatisfaction at the result – a game that Dermot Desmond also attended.

Celtic’s majority shareholder will have a close eye on how today’s game unfolds, with Rodgers singing the praises of the Irishman.

“He is brilliant,” he enthused. “He is on his travels, travelling the world – but we have regular contact.

“He will ring up, we speak, he will drop text messages from wherever he is in the world. He still has a real passion for the club and that was one of the key things for me to come here.

“I met Dermot and I met Peter and from the outside looking in it was maybe a tough gig for them

“Our contact is regular. He is always encouraging.

He asked me to come in and be the architect of the club and create something and that’s something I looked to do.”

As Celtic go into their first league meeting against Rangers since 2012, a game that has the potential to be explosive, Rodgers has urged his side to keep their head and their concentration.

“You are trying to just ensure that they retain their focus, I think that is the key message,” he said. “In order to play well you have to be clear in your thinking and your composure, but you want to have the intensity, you want to have the competition, that real aggression in our game and I think we have showed that.

“As you have seen in our home games, we have had some real tough games, but we have shown huge desire and intensity in our games and the players have been clear in their thinking. “