SCOTT BROWN has fired out a title warning to the rest of the Premiership.
The champions, with a tenth successive title in their sights, have failed to strike top form this season and have had to rely on odd-goal wins in their last two outings against St Mirren (2-1) and Livingston (3-2).
However, the Hoops’ onfield leader emphasised they are still doing the business – and have the same points after seven games as Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles in season of 2016/17.
Back then, the team had a hiccup in a stalemate in Inverness when Caley Thistle snatched a late equaliser, on this occasion the two dropped points came in the stalemate against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park when the home side levelled with a penalty-kick.
SHAKE ON IT, PAL…Scott Brown congratulates Shane Duffy on his equaliser against St Mirren.
The Parkhead men are now one win away from going two points clear at the top – only weeks after suggestions they could be facing an 11-point deficit after missing two games against the Paisley outfit and Aberdeen due to the shameful misconduct of Boli Bolingoli and his breach of coronavirus guidelines that saw the club fined £30,000 by the SPFL, as CQN reported yesterday.
Brown, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “I don’t think we’ve hit top gear yet. Sometimes you have to grind these games out and just get the results.“You don’t worry about the performances at the end of the season – not if you’ve won the league. It’s all about points on the board, obviously.
“But we want to play better. We want to make sure we control games from start to finish a lot better.
“We don’t want to be defending a 3-2 lead for the last 15 minutes every week.”
Brown admitted the manager and players did nose their focus when it looked as though an alarming gap could emerge at the top of the table.
The 35-year-old action man said: “We don’t get too excited, don’t get too emotional.
“We play the game and focus on who we’re playing. That’s the big thing, not getting carried away with our form.
JOY BHOYS…Scott Brown and Patryk Klimala join James Forrest after the winger’s winner in Paisley.
“If we keep winning games, all we know is we’ll keep a smile on everyone’s faces. We aim to do that for as long as we possibly can. We don’t worry about anyone else.
“We aim to get success here every year and push the boundaries all the times, whether it’s pushing current players or bringing in others.
“The manager has brought in a lot of players and there have been changes in the team and formation.
“So, it’s been great that we have been able to keep winning matches at the same time.
“We’re delighted to be back up there. There was nothing we could do about the two games we missed as a team.
“But we’ve managed to win them, beating St Mirren in a hard game – and getting another good result at the weekend with another three points against Livingston.
