There was more than just a little mischief at play when Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, maintained that the performances of Hibs this season have confirmed their status in his mind as the second best team in the country.

On paper, Neil Lennon’s side are currently three points off the pace of Rangers and Aberdeen with four games still to play – including a mouth-watering final game of the season at Easter Road between Hibs and Rangers – but it is the manner in which Hibs have done battle with Celtic this term where Brown believes they have proved their credentials.

Two draws and a win against Celtic means that Lennon has taken seven points from the Parkhead outfit this term, an achievement that outstrips anything any other team has done against the champions elect.

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And asked if Rangers are the second best team in the league Brown was unambiguous with his response.

“No. Hibs are,” he stated firmly.

“They came up from the Championship and have shown everyone how good they can be.

‘They’ve got a top quality manager, a good young team. If they can keep that together, who knows what they can do?

“They definitely have given us our toughest games this season.

‘They play good football but they’re up for the battle.

“The two strikers are playing really well together, they understand how each other play. So for loan strikers coming in to play so well together, scoring so many goals, it’s great for them.”

If Brown’s comments were designed to get under the skin of Rangers ahead of Sunday’s title clincher at Celtic Park it seems ultimately unnecessary; the Parkhead side have acted as an undermining earworm for Rangers since the arrival of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic.

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The 45-year-old is unbeaten in all ten experiences of this fixture and given the meekness with which Rangers relinquished the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden just over a week ago, there will be few who fancy the Ibrox side’s chances of raining on Celtic’s coronation.

Brown has been pivotal to that dominance over Rangers, particularly this season. The midfielder collected three personal accolades – Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and a Special Recognition Award on Sunday evening as Celtic hosted their own awards dinner in a city centre hotel and it would appear to be a portent of what is to come as further ceremonies await before the end of the campaign.

Whatever personal gongs he takes home, however, will compare little to the experience of clinching the title at Celtic Park against Rangers, a fixture the authorities buck against. Celtic folklore celebrates the 1979 May evening when ten men won the league but that is the last time any Parkhead side clinched the title against their rivals, such is the scarcity of opportunity to do so.

“It [winning the league against Rangers] would be the icing on the cake, to be perfectly honest,” said Brown. “Especially for the fans. Everyone tried to stop it happening – but now we have a chance to do it.

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“It happens so rarely, so it does give us an incentive. Especially after our disappointing result at the weekend.

“We really need to show how good we are after a poor performance. We need to make sure that, against Rangers, we just show how good we can be – especially in front of our own fans.”

In contrast to last term, Celtic have been far less fluent than they were in Rodgers’ inaugural Invincibles campaign. Still, though, there has been ease with which they have seen off any challenge from Rangers and the psychological effects of the 3-2 win in March at Ibrox seemed to loom large over the semi-final at Hampden. Hibs effectively served up a lesson in how to play against Celtic with their pressing and aggression against Rodgers’ side with which the Parkhead side seemed unable to counter on Saturday but Brown was bullish in his insistence that few can live with Celtic when they hit their stride.

“It’s always all about Celtic,” said Brown.

“If we turn up, we play, we reach our best, we beat Rangers – no problem.

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“But we need to make sure we do the hard work over the next four or five days leading up to the game.

“I think Rangers will have a point to prove, especially with the semi-final result, the way they played and everything that has been happening since.

“They will want to come after us and try to put us under pressure, make us make mistakes.

“But we’ve got top quality players who can cope with pressure and play through it.

“I always look forward to it.

“They are still going for second place, as well. Hibs got a great result at the weekend, obviously, so it’s all up for grabs now.

“Rangers played better with ten men [against us]. They kind of came after us and put a bit more pressure on us with ten than they did with 11. I think they felt they might as well just give it a go there and then.

“But I think every one of us turned up on the day at Hampden. That’s from goalkeeper through to the front. We dominated – as we knew we would.”

As subtle with word as he is with tackle.