Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass would prefer Scott Brown not to face his future Dons team-mates – but only because he believes Celtic are stronger with their skipper.
Glass knows his former Hibernian team-mate will not be affected by thoughts of taking on the club he is contracted to join in the summer when the teams meet on Wednesday.
Brown will arrive as a player/coach in the summer but is looking to end a successful 14-year spell at Celtic with some more wins after a disappointing season hit another low with Scottish Cup defeat by Rangers on Sunday.
Ahead of the Pittodrie clash, Glass said: "The reason Scott Brown is coming is because he's a top, top professional. Top professionals go into games trying to win for their teams.
"So I have no doubt that, if Scott plays, he will be doing everything he can with no concern he is coming to Aberdeen next year. And that's the reason why we want him at the club.
"None of our players expect anything different, none of his team-mates expect anything different.
"Scott will be coming up here, playing or not playing, determined that Celtic win.
"I would prefer he doesn't play, purely for the fact that I don't want the best Celtic players to play, not because he is coming here next year.
"I won't speak to him until after the game, out of respect for him, out of respect for John (Kennedy), and so I can go into the game knowing I have not tried to influence anything in any way, shape or form as well."
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack highlighted his desire to appoint a manager who would aim to go to Glasgow and come back with victories, and Glass is determined to get a positive mindset into his players as they bid for a first home win against Celtic in five years.
"People probably expect Celtic to come up and take three points," said the former Aberdeen midfielder, who secured a Scottish Cup win over Livingston in his first game in charge on Saturday.
"It's been a long time since Aberdeen won at Pittodrie against Celtic, I know that. But that adds an extra challenge to the players: can we start winning games when the Old Firm come to town?
"It's important that the players have a self-belief in what we do. We should not feel inferior to any team coming to Aberdeen.
"We know that some teams come with a better group of players, more experienced group of players than others, but we have to be ready for the challenge and try to impose our game on them."
The Dons are set to be without goalkeeper Joe Lewis, who came off against Livi.
"His ribs are not broken but he is still in a little bit of pain," Glass said. "We are hopeful he will come through soon but we don't know how long that will take.
"It's a pain management thing and sometimes positionally it can affect him worse because he is opening his body up a lot, he is diving, just the mechanics of how he is using his body. Joe is a concern and is likely to miss out."
