Johnstone to start at Ibrox, Duran wide left - predicts Brown

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown expects Sam Johnstone to start Sunday's League Cup quarter-final against Rangers and top scorer Camilo Duran to be used on the left wing. Former England goalkeeper Johnstone, 33, made his first start since arriving on loan from Wolves in Wednesday's 1-0 win at St Johnstone. Duran was rested in Perth, coming on as a late substitute after a run of three goals and two assists in three games when used as central striker in the absence of Kasper Hogh. Brown believes Johnstone's experience and composure gives him an edge over Finland international Viljami Sinisalo, who kept a clean sheet in last season's Scottish Cup victory at Ibrox. "Sinisalo's done really well, but Sam's come in and wants to play at his age," said Brown. "It's a big shout for whoever plays, but my gut says Sam. He was exceptional when called upon. He made a fantastic save, he was out early, and a couple of clearances that he made with balls over the top, he read the situation really, really well." Hogh returned from injury at McDiarmid Park but was largely starved of service as manager Martin O'Neill made five changes to his starting line-up. With Yang Hyun-jun at the Asian Games with South Korea, Brown reckons Duran will move to the flank, allowing Hogh to continue through the middle. "I really enjoyed watching Duran play through the middle," said Brown. "His pressing is a bit like Kyogo (Furuhashi), (Daizen) Maeda, the way he gets after teams, and that's what Celtic's are all about. "Hogh is more of an old-fashioned number nine, he holds the ball up, he's strong, and he'll like the physical battle with the two Rangers centre-halves. "Obviously, he's more aggressive in there than Duran, but Duran's willingness to run in behind and pull people out of pockets and go in those areas might help Celtic stretch the game, especially away from home when you've got no fans there." The absence of away supporters saddens Brown, a veteran of many Old Firm derbies. "I understand why, but it's disappointing not to see the 6,000 fans that we used to get because the atmosphere was brilliant," he said. "It's not losing its appeal, it's just losing the passion, I feel. "Rangers will be delighted with it because they'll have 50,000 fans and there's not a single Celtic fan in the ground. "As a Celtic player, you want to silence that crowd early doors, you want to make sure that you keep the ball, you dictate, and if Celtic get an early goal it becomes a nervous Ibrox. "The big one (derby) is always the first game. It's always a bit nervy because everyone's going in a little bit wary of how people are on the ball. You can watch them in games but you don't see the movement individually, the talking, the rotations as much as you do when you're on the field."