played in many of Celtic's matches during the early stage of the 2010–11 season. He also managed to get his first goal for the club since March when, on 25 September 2010, he scored a "superb volley" against Hibernian. On 2 October, Brown played in Celtic's 3–1 win over Hamilton before leaving for international duty. He suffered an injury during the game that was reported to be a metatarsal injury, which would mean he would be out for six weeks. Celtic later stated that he had in fact suffered a stress reaction in a metatarsal on his right foot and that he would be out for around ten weeks. Lennon expressed his concern at the injury, as Brown had been one of Celtic's key players. Despite initial fears that Brown would be out until the new year he made his return for Celtic on Boxing Day as they beat St Johnstone 2–0 at home. He then started his second match in three days as Celtic beat Motherwell 1–0, however Brown was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 89th minute. This meant he would miss the upcoming Old Firm match on 2 January. 2011–2013 Brown scored against Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox on 6 February 2011, which earned Celtic a replay. Brown and El Hadji Diouf, who had played directly against each other on Celtic's right wing, had exchanged words throughout much of the game. After scoring his goal, Brown turned to Diouf and raised his arms in a taunting celebration, he was booked for this. After the match they continued their feud in the media the next day. Two days after the match, Brown then stated that he considered their altercations to be "just a bit of banter" which he regularly encountered on the pitch and that the yellow card he received for his celebration was the best of his life. Several days later, Lennon publicly stated he wanted to agree a new contract with Brown. In the lead up to the replay of the Scottish Cup match, Rangers player Kyle Bartley said that not many Rangers players liked Brown and that they would be targeting him in the next game. Brown was booked in Celtic's penultimate league game against Kilmarnock, which caused him to go over the disciplinary points threshold and receive a suspension for the first two matches of the 2011–12