Celtic compelled to give Brown a break

Celtic FC are expected to be without captain Scott Brown for their final UEFA Champions League Group G game against FC Spartak Moskva, with the midfielder likely to require surgery which could rule him out for ten weeks.

The 27-year-old limped off just after the hour mark in last night's 2-1 defeat by SL Benfica in Lisbon and manager Neil Lennon said: "Scott has run his course, we may have to book him in for surgery. We are looking at eight to ten weeks. He has been pushing himself to the limit and we can't keep asking him to put himself through the amount of distress that obviously he was doing towards the end of his time on the pitch. I think it is time to get the problem addressed and hopefully he will have something to look forward to in the new year."

Victor Wanyama is also suspended for the Spartak match at Celtic Park on 5 December after the Kenyan midfielder picked up another booking in Portugal. The Hoops need to achieve a better result against Spartak than Benfica manage at FC Barcelona to reach the round of 16.