Scott Brown has revealed that he may not need surgery on his hip condition.
The Celtic skipper is likely to play some part of tomorrow’s match against St Johnstone after a fortnight of complete rest.
Brown’s last match was the Champions League qualifier against Helsingborg where he helped Celtic return to the elite stage that brings Benfica to town next week.
“I just needed a bit of rest,” he revealed. “There was a lot of inflammation between the bones. As soon as that goes away I’ll be feeling a bit younger than I do at the minute. I’ve got to see how it settles.
“The hip could need surgery, but hopefully we don’t need to go that far and everything will settle down.
“I’m feeling a lot better, I’ve had two weeks rest and done nothing at all. I’ve just sat and relaxed.
“I’ll try training on Friday and see how things go. If I can play on Saturday, I will. If not, the bigger game’s Benfica and I’m looking forward to it.”
Brown and Georgios Samaras are the only survivors from Celtic’s last Champions League campaign.
The former Hibs midfielder is the longest serving player at the club and is in no doubt about the quality of his current team-mates.
“This is the best Celtic team I have played in fitness-wise and attacking-wise,” he added. “We have a couple of players for each position and that’s good.
“Once you have that and people fighting for places, it creates a lot more competition. Training has been excellent and it’s a happy place to be.
“The lads around me are incredible and they just seem to be getting better and better.
“You see Gary Hooper playing up front and it’s some difference to when he first signed. He scores, he holds the ball up and he bullies defenders twice his size.
“We have got people all over the team, like Jamesey Forrest who did well for Scotland. Once he gets on the ball, anything can happen.
“I’ll be interested to see who Barcelona play at left-back because whoever it is will be in for a game from Jamesy.”
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