The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Brown’s cylinders on fire
Premiership: Lennon delighted captain is back on form ahead of AC Milan
Manager Neil Lennon is glad to have Celtic captain Scott Brown firing on all cylinders going into the Champions League opener against AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday.
The Scotland midfielder, 28, struggled last season with an abductor problem which required surgery in March.
A fully- fit Brown has started this campaign in impressive style for club and country and was at his forceful best in the 3-1 Scottish Premiership win against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday.
The Celtic manageris encouraged by his captain’s form as he prepares for the trip to Italy and also hopes to have midfielder James Forrest back, after he missed the match against Hearts with a continuing sciatica problem.
“Scott is outstanding at the minute,” said Lennon. “He is playing so well and he is doing everything so clean.
“He is injury-free and when you think that we have lost GaryHooper, Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson this summer, to have a fit Scott Brown for the Champions League, which we didn’t have last year, is going to make us better.
“Ifwehave JamesForrest fit and flying that willmake us better again.”
Lennon was pleased by howwell all his players performed at Hearts after the international break, which restricted his preparations to a minimum.
Kris Commons scored from the spot in the 18th minute after home midfielder Jamie Hamill was penalised for handball, a decision which looked harsh.
Jason Holt equalised in the 56th minute with a deflected drive from the edge of the box but the visitors reasserted themselves and goals from in- form Anthony Stokes and debutant attacker Teemu Pukki sealed victory.
Lennon said: “After the international break, you only have the players for a day.
“I didn’t even have Emilio Izaguirre and Efe Ambrose on Friday and I was worried about the reaction or fall-out.”
Pukki meanwhile believes Celtic can make inroads into the Champions League.
He said: “I think we are ready for the Champions League.
“It is a hard group, but Celtic showed last year they have a team good enough to go through.”
Heart s ’ young side remainsbottomof the table on minus eight points but manager Gary Locke is pleased with his side’s efforts.
“We have been on the back end of a couple of bad results against Celtic at Tynecastle with a far stronger squad than we have at the minute,” Locke said.
“But it is important to keep our heads up because there were a lot of positives to take from the game.
“We are a really young side and for long spells we competed against a topclass team.”