Time Spiders left Hampden, says Broony

week in, week out and then you are in semi-finals and it’s been played on and it’s dug-out, it’s not what you want to see and it’s not what the public wants to see, either.

“A state-of-the-art stadium, which we are supposed to have, shouldn’t have teams playing on it week-in, week-out.”

Parkhead skipper Brown can’t wait to get back out on the Hampden pitch for his country in Saturday’s mouthwatering clash with England, with his confidence skyhigh on the back of a fantastic season with Celtic.

This time last year though, that was far from the case, as Brown underwent a period of soulsearching following a poor campaign under previous Celtic boss Ronny Deila.

The man to pull him out of the dark place he was i n? Gordon Strachan.

And Brown is desperate to repay the very person who brought him to Celtic in the first place by playing just as well in the dark blue of Scotland this weekend.

“I’m wanting to prove a little point that I’m not finished yet and I’ve got a few years left,” he said.

“Captain for Celtic’s Treble and beat England for Scotland? That’d be nice. A right good couple of weeks.

“I am enjoying my football and, as soon as that happens, you might as well play as much as possible.

“Last year, I wasn’t fit and I wasn’t enjoying it. That’s what happens and you are struggling with injuries.

“I thought my playing career was coming to an end and it was one injury after another. It was a hard season for me.

“Gordon came to my house at the end of last season and said: ‘How are you feeling?’

“I said: ‘My legs have gone, I’m struggling to chase people around and I’m not feeling myself’.

“He said: ‘I see that. Everyone sees that. How are you going to fix yourself? What are you going to do? Coaching? Put that to one side. Coach when you are 40. Go out there and prove everyone wrong.’

“I had to change a lot of things and try to get myself as fit as possible and then maintain that.

“For me to call it a day with Scotland might have been a bit premature.

But I got the six weeks off, I got the holidays and I came back feeling as fit as I ever have done. That makes me want to play as much as I can do and for as long as I can do.

“My fitness levels are through the roof from this time 12 months ago and I just want to maintain those levels.

“I want to maintain what I have been doing off the park as much as what I’ve been doing on the park and take it from there.

“I love playing with Scotland. It’s great. For me, at the time [I retired] I was the captain and I was sad that I had to give that up, but I had to do it for myself.

“It’s the first selfish thing I have done for myself in football to look after myself and it was the best decision that I’ve probably made.”