SCOTT Brown today pinpointed Celtic’s sky-high fitness levels as the reason they defeated Rangers in the Betfred Cup semi-final.

Brown and his Hoops team mates dominated their Ibrox rivals for long spells of the match at Hampden yesterday.

However, it took until the 87th minute, when Moussa Dembele netted a late goal, for them to make the breakthrough.

The Celtic skipper, who was criticised for his flat performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers last season, felt his side’s superior fitness was vital in the 1-0 triumph.

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He said: “We controlled the game. We limited the chances they had and we created a lot more than they did. I think our fitness shone through at the end.

“We kept going and got a late goal. As I say, we could have had a couple early doors, but it wasn’t to be. Fortunately, Moussa pops up and scores again.”

“The big thing is that we’re enjoying our football. We’re playing really well and we’re controlling games from start to finish. We didn’t do as well as we could have today, but we were still the better team overall.”

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“If it had gone to extra-time then I think our fitness would once again have shone through. Our main focus is about us. We don’t worry about anybody else.”

Brown added: “I think everyone is getting around the park a lot better, the movement off the ball is so much better as well, as is the movement on the ball. The pace we have got on our team has obviously helped there.”

“I think they would have fancied their chances given how much running we did on Wednesday night, but I think it has been shown that we are looking after our bodies on the park as well as off the park. We are continuing to play well in every game and pushing to new limits.”