‘A BLATANT KICK TO MY HEAD’ – SCOTT BROWN

United boss Jackie McNamara claimed the Celtic skipper’s challenge on Ciftci in the ninth minute sparked the controversy which ended with Virgil van Dijk and Paul Paton, wrongly identified as the culprit, being ordered off.

Brown defended himself and said: “I think it was a great tackle. The referee is five yards away and he had no problem with it.

“The linesman was 10 yards away and two of them had great views and you can clearly see on television that I have won the ball.

“I was kicked in the head (by Ciftci). You can blatantly see that. We will see what happens with that. At the time I didn’t know who it was. I felt a boot against my face. There was so much going on at the time, I didn’t know who it was until I watched it again afterwards.”

However, Brown insists there is no bad blood between the clubs ahead of Sunday’s League Cup Final. He said: “It was both teams wanting to win and I think that is good for the Scottish game. As soon as you step onto the park it is a clean slate. The pitch at Hampden will help us. They are relaying that now so it should be in great shape.”