Celtic captain Scott Brown on playing against Hearts ace Steven Naismith and his 'non-stop' moaning

The duo have had their on-field clashes

Hearts captain Steven Naismith would “moan that black is white and white is black”, according to Celtic’s Scott Brown.

The pair have had their clashes since Naismith returned to Scotland, joining Hearts in January 2018.

One of the more notable moments came at Tynecastle towards the end of the 2017/2018 season when the Hearts forward left a boot on Brown. It was a challenge which then Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers branded “shocking”.

Scott Brown and Steven Naismith are two of the more vocal players in the league. Picture: SNS

Hearts would go on to accept a two-match ban for Naismith.

However, off the field there is little bad blood between the players, with Brown noting that no player he has encountered moans more than the Hearts star.

He told Norwich City defender Grant Hanley in a Dafabet chat: "Even playing against Naisy now, I just laugh because I moan a lot right, but Naisy is non-stop. During training, during games, anything.

“He’d moan that black is white and white is black.

"The two of us are getting deeper and deeper so Naisy has gone from a striker to a No.10 so the two of us are somehow marking each other and it’s literally non-stop the whole game. It’s I’m coming for you or he’s coming for me.

"To be fair, it’s good because you know after the game straight away you shake hands and offski, but for 90 minutes we kick c**p out of other and moan at each other.

Brown added: "We went and played in a golf competition together and the two of us were in the same team and all that so it’s good to have that competition."