Tony Mowbray ended another demanding another week as Celtic manager reiterating his admission that he does not enjoy the job. While continuing the search to add to his squad before the transfer window closes, the Hoops manager has had to prepare his side to overcome Morton 1-0 in their twice-postponed Active Nation Scottish Cup tie at Greenock on Tuesday night.

Following that, he became embroiled in something of a saga concerning Scott Brown, after it was reported that he had told the midfielder that he wanted to sell him. The former Hibernian and West Bromwich Albion manager spent most of yesterday's press conference at the club's Lennoxtown training centre stressing that he did no such thing, as opposed to focusing on tomorrow's trip to St. Johnstone in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Mowbray's exasperation about certain parts of his role came to the fore again as he stated: "I said to you a few weeks ago, this job is not a job I enjoy. Do I have fun? No. I come to work, I work as hard as I can and I don't cut corners.

"I am as professional as I can be. I talk to my players - believe it or not - and put together a team to win football matches and just keep going."

Was there a meeting at Christmas time telling [Scott Brown] he could go? Never.
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray

Mowbray reiterated his stance on the Brown matter, saying: "The bottom line is I am a guy of integrity and honesty. My whole life is about the way I live it. I understand the vagaries of journalism, but [if] you push me into a corner and write something that just didn't happen - sometimes you have to make a stand. Fact.

"I don't like it when I see things printed that never happened. I think it's right that we take a stand against that. The daft thing about it is that there are so many grey areas.

"Do I talk to my players? Every day. It's my job is to talk to footballers," he said. "Was there a meeting at Christmas time telling [Brown] he could go? Never. He didn't misunderstand me. It was a total mistruth and I think the club and myself have made that pretty clear. It's not disruptive because it's not true."

McInnes not intimidated
St. Johnstone manager Derek McInnes insists he has nothing to fear against the Hoops, despite losing at Parkhead earlier in the season. He said: "We lost 5-2 at Parkhead and that day they had a lot of match-winners on show. They had the ability to pass and move the ball, they were athletic and had lots of energy.

"But although we lost against them, we took a lot of positives ourselves and in some ways we were the architects of our own downfall. We have to defend better and, if we do that, who knows?"