SCOTT BROWN has made light of being targeted by a missile thrown from the Aberdeen support as he celebrated his winning goal at Pittodrie.

 

The Celtic captain has confirmed he was almost struck by a pie in the immediate aftermath of earning a 1-0 victory for the SPFL Premiership champions with his remarks likely to spark an investigation into the incident by the Scottish Football Association.

Brown played down suggestions that other objects were thrown and found time to joke about eating the pie to gain some extra energy as Ronny Deila's side ensured they will complete a successful season having beaten their nearest rivals four times out of four in the league.

"Someone tried to throw me a pie," smiled Brown. "I did try to eat it, but it fell out of my hands.

"The gaffer wouldn't have liked it because there are carbs in it.

"Was there a 50p? I would have picked that up. I am from Fife, mate. That would have got me another pie in Fife.

"I don't know if anything else was thrown. I don't really pay attention. I saw the pie, I thought that it looked half-decent and I could be doing with a wee bit of extra energy.

"It is banter, eh? For 90 minutes, they can give as much as they want and I can give as much as I want. As soon as we go off the field, it is all forgotten about for me."

Deila was delighted by the attitude and application of his midfield general over the course of a feisty and competitive encounter and insisted that being singled out by opposition supporters is merely a sign that Brown is doing a fine job.

"I understand that people outside our team don't like him so much because he's so good," said Deila.

"He gets abuse from other fans, but that is a compliment for him. He is used to it. I think he enjoys it rather than using up his energy on it.

"He'll go tough into challenges, but he's also fair. He is a role model inside the dressing-room and what you want in your team."

Aberdeen enjoyed periods of dominance during the game with Lawrence Shankland missing a glorious opportunity to equalise in second half stoppage-time when sending a header past the post from close-range from a Jonny Hayes cross.

Barry Robson, the Pittodrie midfielder, was heartened by the display and is sure the competition for the SPFL Premiership will be more intense next year.

"It is admirable to get so close to Celtic," said Robson, who admitted he hopes to earn a new contract. "Next year, we will be even stronger and run them even closer.

"We can never match their finances, but we can be organised, fit, strong and have a great team spirit while adding a bit of quality.

"You can see how much we fight and want to win."

Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, complained to the fourth official, Brian Colvin, about Celtic players going down injured as they held on to their one-goal lead in the latter stages and believes more could have been done to assist his team.

"If players were going down with cramp - and it seemed to be when we had moments in the ascendancy - you get the player off the pitch,"

said McInnes. "I just felt there was a lot of compassion shown to let them stay on the pitch and it took the sting out of the game on four or five occasions.

"I don't think a Celtic team will be timewasting, but certain breaks in the game helped them."

McInnes now plans to rest his key performers over their last two fixtures of the season in preparation for the qualifying rounds of the Europa League in July and another tilt at the league title.

"We have a short close-season before we are in action again," he said.

"We will be ready for Celtic next season and we will try to improve."