BROWN RUES A CONGESTED SCHEDULE CAUSED BY BOLI

SCOTT BROWN fears Boli Bolingoli’s coronavirus calamity could land Celtic with a fixtures pile-up. The Belgian left-back placed Scottish football on a yellow card from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when he skipped the country for a trip to Spain — and failed to quarantine on his return.

The Parkhead club now face a disciplinary charge from the SPFL, while Bolingoli has been cited by the SFA compliance officer.

More concerned by the impact two postponed games against St Mirren and Aberdeen could have on an already crowded fixture calendar, however, Brown claims the whole team have been punished for one man’s mistake. Asked how he felt towards Bolingoli personally, the captain told Celtic TV: ‘It’s hard because he’s made a mistake — but that mistake has cost us two games. ‘We play a lot of games over the season and now we have to cram these games in somewhere. ‘I don’t know where we are going to cram them in.

‘He’s made that mistake and we need to just worry about ourselves from now on, go on and make sure everyone is doing things by the book. It was one man’s mistake. We got punished as well. But that’s football. We need to make sure we bounce back and everyone learns from that mistake.’ The subject of internal disciplinary proceedings, Bolingoli remains in self-isolation after taking an unauthorised flight to Malaga after the 5-1 win over Hamilton on the opening day of the season. Speaking ahead of tonight’s Champions League qualifier with KR Reykjavik, Brown insisted morale within the dressing room is good. ‘The gaffer did that really well,’ said Brown. ‘For us, it’s all about getting back to the winning mentality, playing well and putting a smile on people’s faces.’