John Kennedy described Scott Brown as irreplaceable as he reflected on the Celtic captain’s achievements ahead of Brown’s final Glasgow derby this weekend.

Brown has enjoyed incredible success against Rangers throughout his Celtic career and the 35-year-old will have one last chance to add to his legacy when Celtic face Rangers at Ibrox in the Premiership this Sunday (May 2).

The final Glasgow derby of the season will also be the last time Brown faces Rangers as a Celtic player, with the Hoops captain joining Aberdeen as a player-coach in the summer.

John Kennedy lauded Brown with praise for everything he has achieved with Celtic, and said he was hoping the players could make the captain’s final derby fixture one to remember.

“Scott’s had a fantastic career here and a very successful one,” said John Kennedy. “He’s been the dominant figure in Scottish football for a number of years now in terms of the levels he’s reached and the success he’s had. People always talk about replacing Scot Brown but I’m not sure it’ll be possible. The club will have to evolve without him.

'Certainly, going into the game it would be good for the team to collectively pull together to send the team out in a high. He’s been a real iconic figure in these games and it would be nice for him to have one more before he bows out.'

The Celtic interim manager admitted the campaign has been a disappointing one for the club, but he said this weekend’s game was an opportunity to kick-start a turnaround as Celtic prepared for next season.

“Football can change very quickly and it’s the same going the other way. With every opportunity you receive you need to try and make that the turning point. We have to turn it around, and at a club like Celtic you have to do it as quickly as possible and get back to winning ways. We don’t like being starved of silverware. We’ve been used to success and this season has been very alien for us.

“This next game is about beating Rangers and trying to set our stall out to make this the starting point for the next era for success. We have to do that and get the wheels in motion in terms of how we move forward.”

John Kennedy also gave an update on some players returning from injury.

“James Forrest has training all week,” he said. “He was just short for the Aberdeen game, and the benefit of having more space between the games has given him more training time. Mikey Johnston has trained again this week, so we have options.”

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