Celtic: Scott Brown welcomes world's eyes on Rangers tie

Scott Brown and Rangers' El Hadji Diouf had a heated confrontation in 2011

Celtic captain Scott Brown has welcomed the League Cup semi-final meeting with Rangers for bringing the world's attention back to Scottish football.

It is the first derby between the sides for nearly three years, with Rangers now in the Scottish Championship.

"It is good for Scottish football because everyone all over the world will be watching and hopefully we can put on a show for them," he said.

"Do we miss Rangers? Yes, on occasions like this."

Brown added: "It is good to have the hype of the game and the fans having the banter between one another.

"It is going to be a terrific occasion and everyone's counting down the days now. It will be exciting.

"Every Celtic-Rangers game, everyone relishes, especially on the big occasions going out in front of 50,000 at Hampden.

"The atmosphere as soon as you walk out on to that pitch, hairs stand up on the back of your neck."

The highly-anticipated match will be broadcast live in 54 countries across five continents.

However, Scotland midfielder Brown insisted the Celtic team will not get caught up in the hype.

"We just go in, train hard and train as we do every other week and we just focus on it being like any other game," he said.

"We know it's a semi-final and it's against Rangers, but at the end of the day, it's another game and we need to win it.

Craig Gordon thinks league form will not matter come Sunday at Hampden

"I think losing any game is totally unacceptable. We are at a big club like Celtic to win trophies and win big games."

Celtic have climbed back to the top of the Premiership after four straight wins, while Rangers have lost two of their last five games in Scotland's second tier.

However, Brown insisted: "Form goes out of the window for Rangers-Celtic games.

"They've still got some great players and Kenny Miller on his day was one of the best strikers I've played with.

"We've been favourites before and we've got beat, but we believe we have the players in the dressing room to win it."

Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon agreed the gap in quality between the sides had been exaggerated.

"A Celtic against Rangers game, nothing else matters other than the result," he said.

"Both sets of players will be going out there and putting 100% effort in for their clubs and trying to get a result.

"What league form the team is in doesn't matter at all - it's just down to this one game. It is 11 against 11 and anything can happen.

"Both sets of players are well used to big games and how to deal with that."