Scotland manager Gordon Strachan believes Paul Scholes was wrong to claim Scott Brown would not cut it in English football.
Brown has been with Celtic for a decade since joining from Hibernian in a £4.4million transfer in 2007.
The 31-year-old guided Celtic to an unbeaten domestic treble last season but former Manchester United player Scholes suggested the midfielder would have struggled to make an impact south of the border.
But Strachan, who signed Brown for Celtic and also managed Coventry, Southampton and Middlesbrough, is convinced the midfielder would have easily been capable of shining in the English Premier League.
He said: “I understand everyone has an opinion but if I was still the manager of the teams I had who did reasonably well in the Premier League I would take him, absolutely.
“The game may have changed since I was Southampton manager but we were fourth in the league at one point and I would still have had him in my team.
“But I don’t have a problem with people having an opinion on players.
“I watched him again in training today and he is back to running like he was when I first signed him at Celtic.
“When you go into big games like this one there is nothing better than having people like him in your team.
“The real test of a player is not the opinion of someone who doesn’t watch him every week. The big test is what your team-mates think of you.
“I don’t think Scott will have lost any sleep over it.
“We are lucky to work with him.”
Strachan has received a boost ahead of this weekend’s World Cup qualifier with England at Hampden on Saturday with Kieran Tierney declared fit to face Gareth Southgate’s side.
The Celtic left back lost a tooth and sustained jaw damage in a collision with Aberdeen’s Jayden Stockley in last month’s Scottish Cup final.
Strachan said: “He has seen a specialist and is getting a gum shield made that he will wear in training.
“He did the start of the training and we kept him out of any contact. Then he went away and did his own thing. I would imagine that once this game is out of the way he will have plenty of time to recover but being the way I am I am kind of selfishly only thinking about this game.
“He will be involved in contact tomorrow. The guy told him that once the gum shield is in he is fine.
“He doesn’t look as if he’s in any pain. He is jogging about and laughing and joking with the rest of them.
“Brendan Rodgers (the Celtic manager) texted me the day after the cup final to say all of the Celtic boys will be fine. He makes us stronger, that’s for sure.”
The real test of a player is not the opinion of someone who doesn’t watch him every week
