SCOTT Brown last night vowed their will be a positive response to the Livingston result from Celtic - and predicted their first Ladbrokes Premiership defeat of the season could be good for the Parhead club, writes Matthew Lindsay.
The midfielder and his team mates struggled after Ryan Christie was ordered off in the first-half and ended up losing the match in West Lothian 2-0.
But the treble treble winners’ captain promised the Glasgow club’s fans they will not allow their standards to slip again.
“We always expect a reaction,” he said. “It’s disappointing, especially going into the international break when you have a couple of weeks until your next game.
“But sometimes it’s good for you as well. We’ve had a wake-up call before when we’ve lost the lead during the season and we’ve managed to bounce back.
“This team has that grit and willingness to win games. Today wasn’t our day, we didn’t perform as well. But it’s a long season and we know we can do better.
Brown added: ‘It was a hard day. Livi made it extremely difficult for us, they were very aggressive on the front foot and defended well and we didn’t play as well as we probably should have on the day.
“They are well organised and played really well. We didn’t play as well as we could have.”
Brown admitted that Christie deserved to be red carded for his foul on Scott Robinson - but questioned by match official Willie Collum hadn’t punished Keaghan Jacobs for a challenge on Jonny Hayes.
“Ryan is not trying to hurt anybody,” he said. “It’s not in his nature, he is a great lad, very honest and works as hard as anybody does in training.
“It’s one of those and we should try and dig him out a little bit more because of how well he has done for us this season. We’ve won with ten men before.
“But the late tackle over on the far side was a two footed lunge as well. At that time the game is gone, but you’ve got to be consistent.”
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