The Poland international will play in this afternoon's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Motherwell at Celtic Park before undergoing surgery on Monday.

Despite using a rotation system this season, Strachan has resisted playing the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle goalkeeper even in the Co-operative Insurance Cup ties where other fringe players were given a run-out.

Brown's last first-team appearance, in fact, was in a 2-0 win at Dundee United on Boxing Day last year while Boruc was recovering from another knee injury.

However, the Celtic manager insists he has plenty of faith in his No2.

"Artur will get an operation on Monday," Strachan confirmed. "I have no idea (when he will be back], it depends how quickly he can recover.

"Mark Brown will come in and he is ready for it. I have never seen anybody prepare as well for an opportunity as he has. He has left no stone unturned, he has given us an incredible professional performance over the last five or six months to get himself ready for when he will be needed.

"He has no fears that when he plays, he could have done anything else rather than what he has done in preparation for his opportunity."

Strachan is still on a high following his side's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Parkhead on Wednesday which kept Celtic's Champions League last-16 hopes alive.

An under-strength side which had Aiden McGeady, Glenn Loovens, Marc Crosas, Georgios Samaras, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Chris Killen all out with injury, almost held onto the 13th-minute lead given to them by Scott McDonald before Ryan Giggs grabbed a late equaliser for United.

Strachan insists he learned some more about the art of management against the star-studded Old Trafford side. He said: "I am proud of the way the players have performed recently. I am proud of the way they played at Kilmarnock with a different style of football.

"It was a different game at Tynecastle and I took great pride in that. And I'm proud of the way they stuck at it the other night.

"It was a crash course because when we set off on this journey a couple of month ago we thought we would have Vennegoor of Hesselink, Samaras, Crosas, McGeady and Loovens.

"So I had to think again to take on that giant of a club. We went down a level technically but in team spirit we were right up there.

"I couldn't get Nakamura on the pitch. He is a wonderful, wonderful talent but I knew it was an Alamo situation and I needed the biggest and strongest on the pitch to try and see out the last half-hour. I will say it again. In terms of commitment, resilience and spirit then it was 100 per cent."

Strachan admits his injury problems mean he will have to ask the same players to reach deep into their stamina levels today. He said: "It's not perfect but you deal with it. If I had a full squad there would be a lot of changes."

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee thinks their Champions League exertions will eventually take their toll on Celtic and believes his team have a chance of getting a positive result so long as they are still in the contest after an hour.

"I think Wednesday night will only take its toll at the end of the game," McGhee said. "I don't think it will take its toll for the first hour.

"The problem is we could be beaten by then. Celtic will be good enough for the first hour to give us a test. If we are still in the game with 20 minutes to go and people start to feel the effects of the other night, then we would have a chance of winning the game.

"Or if we get a lead in the first hour, maybe Celtic will find it difficult to get back in the last 20 minutes. But here against Celtic, we were 4-0 down at half-time, so we are going to have to be at our best."

The last time Motherwell were at Celtic Park, back in April, they won 1-0 despite having Bob Malcolm sent off.

Uefa starts fan invasion probe

UEFA yesterday opened an investigation to examine why a supporter ran onto the field during Celtic's Champions League home match against Manchester United. The man entered the Celtic Park pitch in the 35th minute of the 1-1 draw on Wednesday. Uefa said inspectors would prepare a report for its control and disciplinary committee, which is scheduled to meet on 13 November. Celtic are under threat of a suspended fine for an incident in October last year, when a fan ran onto Celtic Park and touched