STEPHEN McMANUS won't tone down his aggression tonight against AC Milan.

The Celtic defender knows a booking will rule him out the second leg in the San Siro next month.

Plus, he has been warned by manager Gordon Strachan about the dangers of conceding free kicks to Milan and Italy's dead-ball dangerman, Andrea Pirlo.

But the Scotland defender said today: "It's not something I can afford to think about. No-one wants to miss games, but I can't change the way I play."

McManus was booked against Man United and Copenhagen, and a third yellow would add to Strachan's defensive headaches.

Kenny Miller and Evander Sno are in the same situation, and also will be desperate to avoid a booking tonight.

McManus said: "I think in European games you can get booked a lot easier than you would in the SPL, but it's up to you to adjust. For all that my style won't change, I won't be rushing into anything because you know in these type of games that you need to watch yourself.

"I was in the squad the last time when we went to the San Siro but I wasn't stripped, so I obviously wouldn't want to miss out on the second leg. But the most important thing is the team and doing what we can. That means concentrating on what happens tonight before anything else."

In the San Siro, Pirlo scored from two free kicks against Scotland and also against Celtic there in 2004.

"I just don't want Pirlo to get a chance from free-kicks," said Strachan. "Mick has been fantastic for us, but there was an incident at Aberdeen when the ball was rolled in and he brought down Lee Miller.

"Miller wanted Mick to bring him down. He preferred that to having to use his own ability to get round him. Mick bought it and made his mind up for him.

"Rather than put us in a horrible position this time, Mick has to learn from that. When you are not in a good position, anyway, then don't try and rescue it with desperate defending.

"He could learn from Steven Pressley. He got caught out a bit in the first-half but pushed Steve Lovell away from goal without committing himself. You have to make them make the decision rather than you making their mind up for them."

McManus added: "You can't allow guys like that time on the ball because they are world-class players who will just pick you off and make you pay.

"We got a bit of luck against Man United to get through, but once you get through you want to progress and see how far you can go."

Strachan is today still assessing the fitness of strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Craig Beattie, but Maciej Zurawski appears to have lost his fight.

Kenny Miller had dental surgery on Sunday 24 hours after needing stitches in a head wound after he ran into a linesman at Aberdeen, but he is fit. On Celtic TV

17:15 Celtic v Dunfermline Reserves (13/2); 19:00 Daily Huddle; 19:30 Motherwell v Celtic (Oct 1999); 21:10 Celtic v Leeds (1970); 22:00 Phone-in; 23:00 Close.