OLD friends, familiar foes.
Kevin Thomson, the Hibernian midfielder, will face up again to best friend and former teammate Scott Brown at Easter Road today. But Danny Handling, Hibs' teenage playmaker, believes the duo should also be pairing up for Scotland.
Brown and Thomson came through the Leith ranks together, before each won moves to the opposite halves of the Old Firm.
But while Brown has grown in stature at Celtic Park and now captains both club and country, Thomson has been forced to return to Hibs to rebuild his career.
Handling believes Thomson's rejuvenated form deserves to see him add to his three Scotland caps collected so far. "Scott and Kevin are similar in some ways," said the 19-year-old. "To me, they are both leaders and help the team. Broony is more attacking than Thommo but they both play in a similar way - they both fight, they both tackle and they both like to pass the ball.
"They are the top players at both their clubs. Scott is obviously captain of both Scotland and Celtic but to me Kevin has still had a very good career. He's been at Rangers, played for Middlesbrough and now he's back at Hibs. And he's played for Scotland. If you achieve half of that I'd say you were doing well.
"He's one of the best players I've ever played with. He isn't getting any younger but he can definitely get back into the Scotland squad on a regular basis and maybe even win another move to a massive club."
Celtic arrive in Edinburgh unbeaten in the league this term but winger Handling - back in Pat Fenlon's squad after recovering from a bruised bone - believes Hibs are capable of ending that run.
"The first 20 minutes will be massive," he said. "If we can stay tight, don't lose a goal and play well, there is a great chance we could beat Celtic. I feel that on our day, with the fans behind us, we have a massive chance of beating them."
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