SPORTCAST - It's a Battle of Britain as Celtic prepares to face arsenal at Parkhead. Darryl Broadfoot, Graeme Macpherson, Thomas Jordan and Ronnie Cully go head to head in our latest football SportCast.

TONY MOWBRAY was today bracing himself for a Champions League blow as fears grow that Glenn Loovens will miss the Battle of Britain against Arsenal.

The Celtic defender limped out of the action at Aberdeen on Saturday after a recurrence of the injury to his left knee he first picked up while playing against Dinamo Moscow.

Intensive treatment has allowed the Dutchman to continue playing up until now. But Mowbray admitted after the 3-1 win at Pittodrie that it had been a calculated gamble to allow him to start at the weekend.

Now it appears this has backfired with Loovens struggling to recover in time to face Arsenal tomorrow night.

Darren O'Dea - who captained the side at the weekend - is on stand-by to line up alongside Gary Caldwell, who missed Saturday's game through suspension.

That leaves Massimo Donati as the only centre-back cover should anything happen to either of these two before or during the tie.

Better news for boss Mowbray is that Shaun Maloney is on course to be ready to start tomorrow after recovering from the cramp which forced him off five minutes from time at Pittodrie.

Off the field, Scott Brown and Andreas Hinkel have promised to be fully focused for this crunch game, despite growing speculation surrounding their futures.

The pair have been attracting serious interest from England and abroad, with Spurs reported to be ready to offer £10million for Brown and both Hull and Cologne chasing Hinkel.

It could have been a major distraction ahead of tomorrow's qualifier against Arsenal.

However, representatives of both players have made it clear their men are happy to remain part of Mowbray's rebuilding at Parkhead, and fully focused on getting them to the group stage of the Champions League.

Brown is set to start for the first time since Mowbray took over in the first-leg clash with Arsenal.

And, while Spurs are expected to be in attendance to assess the 24-year-old against Premier League opposition, White Hart Lane boss Harry Redknapp has dismissed reports he is poised to test Celtic's resolve by slapping in an eight-figure bid for the Scotland midfielder.

Redknapp said: "He's a good player, but I've not made an enquiry.

"Someone said I was supposed to have been at Aberdeen against Celtic when I was watching Chelsea play Hull."

Hinkel's agent, Klaus Schaude, said: "We've not spoken to other clubs, Andreas is very happy with Celtic and wants to stay."