Celtic icon puts out challenge to Rangers and Hoops as he demands a battle with either rival in money-spinner

Scott Brown wants a financially-lucrative battle with Rangers and Celtic for Ayr United in the next round of the Scottish Cup.

The Hoops icon won this competition many times as a player at Parkhead and is now cutting his teeth in management. His Ayr United team beat Morton 2-0 on Saturday at the third round stage to move into the fourth where the Premiership big boys enter the fray.

Ayr had a clash with Rangers last season and Brown wants a repeat, or a dance with his former side to help the Honest Men benefit from a money-spinning game with a tie against Aberdeen also fancied. He said: "The subs gave us good options and it's great to get a couple of clean sheets in a row.

"I didn't think Mikey Devlin had a strike like that in him but I was delighted to see it go in, it was a fantastic finish after another really solid display at the back from him. The Scottish Cup was quite good to me as a player but it's different now at a club like Ayr.

"We want a big team, we want to go to places like Parkhead or Ibrox or Aberdeen and have those special occasions as it's great for the club to have those days out and it brings in important revenue.

"We went to Ibrox last year and no one expected us to do anything but we played really well and it brought in £250,000, which is fantastic money for a club like this. And it helps me bring in players for the next season. I'd take anything like that."