Celtic skipper Scott Brown has shrugged off Rangers new-boy Joey Barton's critique of himself and claimed he and the 'Celtic fan' will get on well.
Brown laughed off comments from Barton that he was 'not in the same league' as the former Burnley midfielder, who had previously declared his affinity for Celtic on Twitter, years before joining Rangers.
Brown said: "I've not been in his league. He's in my league. I think we'll get on really well, him being a Celtic fan. So I think we will get on great. The Rangers-Celtic games will be good."
When asked if the comments fired him up, Brown said: "I hear that every day. It's part and parcel of football."
Barton was quick to respond to Brown, posting a picture on Twitter of the midfielder wearing a Rangers strip in a team photo taken during his days as a child training with the Ibrox youth set-up.
The boyhood Evertonian wrote: "ok Scott. No pictures of me in a Celtic kit pal...
"Where I'm from you support one team. You might look for results of others foreign teams, but you only really support your team.
"If you were a dyed in the wool Everton supporter you don't wear Liverpool kits as a kid. In fact, you'd never be taken seriously if you did.
"I think what Scott meant was 'we'll both get on fine as we're both Rangers men!' It just seems Scott got a little confused."
Brown failed to mention newly-promoted Rangers after being asked about what competition the champions expect to face this season.
"I think Hearts and Aberdeen have done great in the last couple of seasons," said the Scotland midfielder, who declared himself fully fit after being troubled by hamstring problems towards the end of last season.
"They have challenged us all the way, and I think they are going to do the same. I think it's going to be hard to see past Aberdeen. It's always hard and we have struggled going up there last season, so hopefully we can do a lot better this season.
"Hearts are a great team, strong and physical. But we have a new manager and a fresh start and we will show what we can do."