Scott Brown will pull on the armband, puff out his chest and march up the tunnel at Celtic Park tonight to enjoy what he says will be the highlight of his career.

The Hoops midfielder admits he will be thrilled and honoured to captain his country against the Republic of Ireland.

He is hoping to inspire the national team to a victory that would be hugely significant in the race for places at Euro 2016.

At present the Irish are three points better off than Scotland and, given how tight the group is expected to remain, taking something from this match is imperative for Scotland.

But Brown is already licking his lips in anticipation of the challenge - and privilege - that lies in wait for him.

"To be perfectly honest it will be the proudest moment of my career," he inisisted.

"To captain my country and walk out to hear the national anthem being sung by 60,000 Tartan Army fans means a lot.

"It's emotional to hear everyone singing their heart out and know it's for you to go out on the park and try to win for them."

Asked if he still feels nerves, Brown replied: "Yeah, that's what makes it exciting. It's huge for any Scottish fan.

"When you go out there you can feel the hairs on your back stand up. It's a great occasion."

Tonight's match will provide Brown with his 41st cap almost nine years to the day after he made his international debut. Then a fiery 20-year-old Hibs starlet, he came on as sub for Nigel Quashie with 17 minutes left of a dull 1-1 draw against USA in front of less than 27,000 fans at Hampden Park.

Brown expects the Ireland game to be played at a much more furious pace and agreed it will feel more like an Old Firm clash than an international tie.

The Ireland camp includes a number of people who will feel almost at home given their connections to the stadium.

They include team manager Martin O'Neill, his assistant Roy Keane, current Hoops star Anthony Stokes and ex-Celts Aiden McGeady, Robbie Keane and Shay Given.

Brown expects their presence will add to the drama of a highly charged encounter.

But he insists maturity has given him the ability to focus on the demands of the occasion rather than get carried away with the atmosphere of it.

When asked if tonight's game will feel like a Glasgow derby match, he replied: "Yeah, it's definitely going to be like that.

"They're going to try to come for us in the first 10, 15 minutes, so it's going to be tough. Both teams have great players and great managers. Everyone knows what it's going to be like.

"This will be different from a lot of international games. It's going to start off at 110 miles an hour, especially with 60,000 fans getting behind us.

"That great atmosphere will push us on. As a player, you need to handle that.

"You have to relax and not let the whole Scotland-Ireland, Rangers-Celtic, whatever it is, get to you. You have to focus on playing your own game.

"I have learned that over the years in these games.

"In your first big match like this, everyone focuses on trying to win the battle and stuff like that. But it's different for us, playing the Republic of Ireland on home soil at Celtic Park.

"We have players who have all been in big games before and who all know what it's about.

"They will get the ball down and pass it, get it forward."

CELTIC'S skipper was not willing to discuss how his former team-mate McGeady may react tonight if he is booed by the Tartan Army.

A combative player, Brown has received enough flak from opposition supporters down the years to be able to sympathise with what the Everton winger may have to endure.

He was happier, though, to discuss the goal threat posed to Scotland by another ex-Hoops star, Ireland's all-time record scorer Robbie Keane.

Brown declared: "It has all been about Aiden but let's just talk about football.

"Aiden is a great player and so is Robbie. He was with us for six months back in 2010.

"Before then I didn't really know how good he was but his movement is excellent. He goes long, he is sharp and he has great goalscoring ability.

"What he brought to us was great. It was fantastic for me to learn off such a top player."

While there is no doubt there is quality in the Irish squad, Brown is also impressed by the progress that is being made within the Scotland camp.

Great strides have been taken since Gordon Strachan became manager in January 2013 with Mark McGhee as assistant.

But while the growing confidence has been easy to track, the time is coming when that has to be married with inroads being made in terms of points and qualification.

Few would expect Germany to finish anywhere other than in top spot in Group D, leaving a fight for second place that also guarantees qualification for the tournament in France.

BROWN is optimistic that the Scotland squad has more than enough quality in its ranks to achieve that target.

He continued: "Every game in these Euro qualifiers is big for us now. People say it doesn't matter about Gibraltar but they are all important matches.

"It's going to be a tight group and will go all the way. We're taking every match as it comes but each one is massive for us.

"We need to try to keep going the way we are going.

"We have been playing quite well recently and need to try to keep it as positive as possible. We need to keep going forward and creating chances.

"The movement up front has been good and hopefully we can keep that going too.

"We have a strong team and if you look in our dressing room you would think that any one of the 23 or 24 in our squad could easily step in and play for us. Everyone in that dressing room works so hard.

"And we believe that if we go a goal down, we can score two and get back on top. We have the players who can do that.

"Guys like Shaun Maloney and Ikechi Anya are scoring goals out of nothing. We can score from one or two attacks.

"It didn't feel like that six or seven months ago.

"But now we are creating those chances and putting them in the back of the net."