SCOTT Brown has warned that Celtic can’t allow Aberdeen to bully them if they want to win at Pittodrie this afternoon and move 10 points clear of their closest rivals in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Brown, who was rested for the league meeting with Ross County in Dingwall on Wednesday night, is set to return to Brendan Rodgers’s side for the meeting with the second-placed side in the top flight.

The Parkhead club’s captain knows his team must perform at their best in the north-east if they want to maintain their unbeaten domestic record in the 2016/17 campaign and extend their lead.

Derek McInnes’s men beat them twice in the league at their own stadium last season as they launched another strong, but ultimately ill-fated, challenge for the Scottish title.

Brown admitted he expects Aberdeen to push them all the way this season and believes Celtic, who have a game in hand against Partick Thistle, must match their physicality in order to triumph.

“It would be huge for us if we can win,” he said. “But you can’t go in there thinking you can just go to Aberdeen which is a hard place and take the three points.

“We’ve struggled up there in the past so here’s hoping it’s a positive result for us. We’re going to have to fight and scratch for everything up there because it’s always a hard place. It’s a great environment to play football as well and here’s hoping the pitch is good.

“We’re top of the league now and we want to be there from now until the end of the season. These are the games you need to go and win.

“Aberdeen are a great team. They have pace, good midfielders, good back four and a good goalie as well so it’s always hard to go up there.

“They try to play football. They try to bully you as well. We need to try and stand up for the physical battles then get the ball down and move it a lot quicker than they can.

“They’ve done really well up there against us for the last couple of seasons, but we have a new manager with new belief and a new philosophy with the way we are playing, and we need to make sure we go out there and step up.”

Aberdeen slipped three points further behind Celtic this week after losing 1-0 to Hamilton away at New Douglas Park on Tuesday evening and Brown believes they will have a point to prove this afternoon.

He said: “You always need to try and bounce back as best you can. For me the best way is to inflict a defeat on a team top of the league so we need to try and make sure we stop that."

Asked if the meeting with Aberdeen would be their hardest domestic fixture of the season so far, Brown said: “Definitely. They pushed us the last couple of seasons and they’ll push us again this season."

Rodgers made no fewer than eight changes to his team for the Premiership match against County in midweek, but Celtic still ran out resounding 4-0 winners.

Brown, who became a father for the third time this week when his wife gave birth to their third son, believes the competition for places that exists at Parkhead will ensure they continue their impressive start to the season.

“The gaffer wants us on our toes and doesn’t want the standard to drop,” he said. “He wants us to continue and the players not playing to push the ones that are.

“If somebody does drop out of form then you always have someone who is coming in to that position. For me everyone played really well against County. I watched the game and enjoyed it.

“We played the way the gaffer wants us to play and got the ball out from the back. Craigy (Gordon) started pretty much everything from the back. His passing is just getting exceptional these days.”