BROWN IS BUOYED BY AN INVINCIBLE

Kolo can give Parkhead men steel at the back — and leadership qualities

CELTIC captain Scott Brown last night welcomed the arrival of Kolo Toure, admitting he will be happy to share some of his leadership responsibilities with the former Arsenal and Liverpool stopper.

The Ivorian defender is expected to pen a one-year contract with the Scottish champions today after passing a medical in Glasgow yesterday and, even though he is not expected to travel to Kazakhstan for the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Astana this week, Brown believes his arrival will significantly improve the club’s prospects for the season.

Toure was a member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ squad, who in 2003-04 won the English Premier League without losing a match.

Brown, struggling with concerns over his fitness, at times seemed to bear a burden of responsibility all on his own under previous manager Ronny Deila, and the 31-year-old admits he will be happy to hear another forceful voice on the pitch.

Toure was previously a successful acquisition for new Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and Brown believes that even at an advanced age he retains formidable speed and can have a similarly positive effect at Parkhead.

‘He is 35 but he is still rapid and built like a brick outhouse, shall we say,’ said Brown following the 1-1 draw with Leicester City yesterday. ‘He is a great player who has been around. He has been at top clubs and was part of the Invincibles at Arsenal.

‘He is a leader on and off the field so he will bring great experience for us. We’ve got a lot of pace in the team now and he’s definitely going to add to it. He’s strong, aggressive in the air and good on the ball — all the qualities we were looking to bring in.’

Rodgers welcomed the signing of Toure last night and highlighted the leadership issue in the process.

‘I brought Kolo into Liverpool to add that bit of experience and help to the centre-halves there at the time,’ said the Celtic manager.

‘I think you saw from his impact there, particularly last season, that he was a very important player for Jurgen (Klopp).

‘He played in the Europa League Final in May and in the big games he was outstanding for me.

‘He looks after himself and he’s a wonderful professional. With a lot of young players in our squad, he can really help them and be of great experience to someone like Scott Brown, who is a wonderful leader.

‘It will be nice for Scott to have someone behind him who’s got that real big game experience. He can do very well for us.’

Brown concurred with his manager’s view, adding: ‘It’s good to have someone talking for 90 minutes behind you. We’ve had that in the past and he’ll bring that quality to us.’

Although yesterday’s game ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat for Celtic, Brown hailed it the perfect workout ahead of a gruelling trip to the Kazakhstani capital, a city that resides in Central Asia, far from the traditional European football hotspots.

Brown was part of the team that travelled to the same city to face Shakhter Karagandy in 2013, a 3-0 home victory being required after Neil Lennon’s side suffered a 2-0 reverse in difficult conditions.

‘That was a good wee trip — sixhour flight, five hours’ time difference and a plastic pitch,’ he laughed. ‘We are going back to the same stadium and while it’s astroturf it won’t be as warm as it was last time.

‘It’s going to be hard but we’ve got to deal with that. It’s six hours but they have to deal with the same when they come here.

‘We will try and keep it tight at the back but we will try and do a bit of both, try to score some goals over there too.

‘We are a lot more structured and there is a lot more togetherness through the team. Personally, I’ve had a good break, I’m feeling sharp again and just enjoying playing week in week out and being pain free.

‘We’re a lot more structured in the middle of the park, defending and attacking as a team. We got caught a lot on the counter last season and we’re trying to shut that off this year.’

Rodgers admits his team still remains some way from peak performance levels but viewed yesterday’s draw with the English Premier League champions as another significant step forward.

Allowed a wildcard under UEFA rules, he could still add another signing to play in Astana but believes his team is improving with every game.

‘We’re still working to improve our fitness and our ideas, and we still want some more players to come in and help the team,’ he added. ‘But I can’t ask any more of the players, and you saw that today. The comfort at times with the ball, we need to be better — it wasn’t perfect, but I don’t expect it to be at this stage.’

Rodgers also reserved some words for defender Eoghan O’Connell, whose 22-yard goal equalised an equally impressive effort from Leicester star Riyad Mahrez.

‘I thought it was a great finish,’ added Rodgers. ‘He wants to defend first and foremost but you can see he’s confident on the ball.

‘To beat young (Kasper) Schmeichel, who’s a wonderful keeper, from that distance, I thought it was a really good finish.’