Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted that Hoops skipper Scott Brown ran the show at Easter Road yesterday afternoon.

Brown and John McGinn provided an intriguing dual in the middle of the park with the latter giving a fairly solid account of himself against the national captain.

Rodgers, though, felt as though there was a clear winner when it came to who dominated the affair.

Read more: Hibs 2 Celtic 2; 68 not out but Hoops allow two-goal lead to slip at frosty Easter Road

“There was no contest,” said the Hoops boss.

“Scott Brown was the exceptional midfield player on the pitch.

“I like young John McGinn, I think he’s a good player. He’s got drive and good energy.

“But Scott Brown is the exceptional midfield player in Scotland and he has shown that, not just in Scotland but when he plays in the Champions League.

“So, he’ll have a way to go before he’ll be at that level.

“Just all game, his level - how he plays a game tactically and how he controls a game of football.

“He now is always in good positions, first to defend and break up the game and then to start our build-up from behind.

“He’s a brilliant player. He’s got all the brawn, he’s got all the aggression and he now really focuses on how he uses that, but also he’s a big catalyst for the team.

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“He opens up the door to how the team functions.

“He was very, very good. You know what you get with Browny, from the first minute to the last.

“He’s a winner.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers also insisted that Celtic should have been ought of sight before Hibs were able to claw their way back into the contest.

A Scott Sinclair brace had given the Parkhead side what looked like a solid lead only for it to dissipate pretty quickly following goals from Efe Ambrose and Oli Shaw.

“The game should have been out of reach,” said the Hoops boss. “I thought we were very good, on the back of a tough week.

“We were 2-0 up and should probably have been four or five up.

“But we stopped passing the ball and we defened a corner not so well.

“Two-nil in football is the most dangerous scoreline you can have. Then at 2-1, from them being not in the game, really, they had that momentum and they can just be free, there’s no pressure.

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“My only disappointment was not seeing that period out.

“But we still had chances after that to win.

“That was the craziest thing about it. We could actually have lost the game.

“To lose that game would have been a crime, really.

“I thought the level of our play was exceptional - our movemet, our positioning, our creativity in the game, and defending. Defensively, we were very strong.

“But that last 15 minutes, not so good.”