WE’LL KEEP IT CLEAN & SWEEP UP ONCE AGAIN

SCOTT BROWN insists Celtic are determined to keep their title as kings of Scotland by completing another clean sweep.

The skipper has ruled in recent seasons as the Hoops hoovered up nine in a row and collected the last 11 trophies on the spin.

Brown believes every side in the country is gunning for them this season but Neil Lennon’s side aren’t ready to end their reign.

He said: “Every season is going to be hard for us, everybody wants to take our crown and that’s part and parcel of being at Celtic.

“We obviously want to win every trophy that we go into, like we usually do and the fans expect us to do.

“We need to make sure we play good, attractive football and we work harder than every team we play against. You also need that little bit of luck here and there as well.

“Every season is intense for us. The fans demand so much from us and the players demand so much from each other as well.

“For me, there is pressure on us week in, week out. We just focus on the game we’re playing on Sunday, we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves or look at any other results. We just concentrate on ourselves.”

Celtic kick off their campaign behind closed doors against Hamilton tomorrow and Brown admitted it will take some getting used to being able to hear every word from the pitch.

He said: “My language is very good on the park these days! I’m a very polite gentleman.

“It’s always hard having no fans but we played the game against Ross County the other day and it was good to hear the lads telling you, ‘Man on, close left, close right, squeeze the game’ and stuff like that.

“It’s different but you’ve got to try to take the positives from the situation – and that’s one of them for us.

“We’ll miss the fans, they are our 12th man and they’ve been incredible for us in the last nine years especially. But we need to do what is right for the country just now and play the games behind closed doors to make sure everyone is safe.”

Brown turned 35 in June but he insisted he’s ready for the long haul again after making 50 appearances in last season’s curtailed campaign.

He said: “I’ve managed to look after myself in the 12 weeks we had off and that has probably benefited people like Callum McGregor and James Forrest, who haven’t really had any time off in the last couple of seasons due to playing with Scotland.

“I feel good, I feel refreshed and I’m raring to go yet again.”