Neil Lennon urges Scott Brown to take one last crack at England and delay Scotland retirement

  • Scott Brown faces an enormous decision over his international future
  • He could extend his comeback beyond World Cup qualifier with England in June
  • Scotland remain in contention for a spot at next summer's tournament in Russia 

Neil Lennon has urged Scott Brown to stick around for a last crack at England – even if it means taking a holiday before the domestic season is out.

The Celtic and Scotland skipper faces an enormous decision over whether to extend his international comeback for the World Cup qualifier against the Auld Enemy at Hampden on June 10.


Chris Martin’s late winner against Slovenia on Sunday saw Gordon Strachan’s men surge back into contention in Group F with the summer showdown against Gareth Southgate’s section leaders now taking on enormous importance.

Scott Brown faces an enormous decision over whether to extend his international career

Scott Brown faces an enormous decision over whether to extend his international career

Brown’s dilemma is that Celtic are likely to meet for pre-season training around June 21 – meaning he’d only have around 10 days’ holiday before another domestic campaign begins.

But his former Parkhead manager Lennon believes Brown’s presence in the national side is so vital for that game that he should explore resting up for a spell in the coming weeks.

‘The team needs him and the country needs him,’ said the Hibs boss.

‘The other thing is that they (Celtic) could win the league this weekend and then they don’t have what you would call a meaningful game until the (Scottish Cup) semi-final, so maybe Brendan (Rodgers, Celtic manager) could tell him to go and have a week or 10 days now.

‘Then he’d have had a holiday during the season but before the Scotland game, then maybe more time off after that. Listen, I’m not going to tell Brendan how to do his job but that may be a solution for Scott getting more rest.

‘He’s looked as fresh as I’ve seen him in a long time so whatever they’re doing in training at Celtic, it’s working.’

The Scotland captain celebrates in the face of an official after the win over Slovenia

The Scotland captain celebrates in the face of an official after the win over Slovenia

Lennon was highly impressed with how Strachan’s side performed in Sunday’s must-win match and reckons that display has put a solid foundation in place for England’s visit.

‘I think they can beat England at Hampden,’ he added. ‘I’ve not been overly-impressed with England, although they are an excellent side that have quality players, but Scotland at home, off the back of a great win, and having lost at Wembley - there’s plenty of sub-plots in that one.

‘If you look at the score-line against England it was 3-0, but for 65-70 minutes Scotland were, for me, the better team at Wembley. That result on Sunday will hopefully galvanise them, it puts them right back in the group and hopefully it will galvanise the support.’

Meanwhile, suggestions that Brown could be banned for the England game have been played down.

FIFA are said to be ‘analysing incidents’ from Sunday’s 1-0 win in the wake of a flashpoint between the midfielder and Jasmin Kurtic being caught by TV cameras.

Some pictures appeared to show Brown stamping on his opponent although several Slovenian players played the matter down afterwards.

And with the SFA yet to hear anything untoward from the governing body, a retrospective ban for Brown seems highly unlikely.

Brown must decide whether he wants to extend his comeback for the visit of England in June

Brown must decide whether he wants to extend his comeback for the visit of England in June