“We’ve got players who haven’t experienced a full, noisy Celtic Park yet,” Scott Brown | OneFootball

CELTIC captain Scott Brown spoke to the media from Lennoxtown via video call this afternoon to discuss Celtic’s 3-2 win over Livingston and to look ahead to the EuropaLeague third round qualifier on Thursday evening against Riga FC – that match is being shown live on Premier Sports and for subscribers outside GB & Ireland, on Celtic TV.

On the win over Livingston the Celtic captain praised the winning mentality within the squad, something of a topical subject after the intervention by Dermond Desmond at the weekend. “It’s about us winning as many games as possible. Sometimes you concede and it’s about how you bounce back. It shows the lads have that winning mentality,” Broony said.

The captain also had a look ahead to next Sunday’s match against Hibs, who dropped two points at home yesterday to the Rangers.

“Hibs are a great team as well with a good result at the weekend. Jack Ross has them playing really well. But, the main focus for us is Thursday and Riga.”

And it is that vital Europa League tie against Riga Fc that is concentrating the minds at Celtic at the moment with the prospect of repeating some of last season’s Europa League highlights the prize at stake. “We had an unbelievable campaign last year, getting some big results in the group stage. We want to get back there but we know it will be difficult. We need to make sure we react well and hopefully get the win.”

Speaking about the new additions to the Celtic squad, the Celtic captain has been impressed with what he’s seen so far. “The new lads have been brilliant since they’ve come in. They’ve all gotten a good amount of minutes on the pitch so far. A few have come from different teams and different pre-seasons so everyone is just getting towards full fitness right now.”

He had a special word for David Turnbull, the £3million signing from Motherwell who had to wait a year to complete his dream move to Celtic. “David’s a great guy. Technically he’s very good and he understands what Celtic is all about. He’s relishing the chance to be here and here’s hoping he’ll get his chance to shine soon.”

That said the Celtic captain knows that it isn’t easy getting into the Celtic team. “Competition in the squad is really good. Everyone’s got to fight for their place. The gaffer wanted to add quality to the squad. We can chop and change systems depending on the game. It pushes everyone on.”

And just as it’s been revealed that both Celtic and Aberdeen have been fined £30,000 each for their respective Covid breaches (thanks Bolingoli), the skipper had his say on the restrictions that are in place due to the pandemic. “It’s hard for everyone, not just footballers. We’re lucky to still be playing through the pandemic and we just want to stay as safe as we can.”

Yet the lack of supporters at games must make it difficult for players. “Football is totally different without fans. They miss us and we miss them. You want to play in front of the fans and we’ve got players who haven’t experienced a full, noisy Celtic Park yet,” Broony said.

Watch Scott Brown’s media conference below..

* All quotes from Celtic’s twitter feed. It’s interesting that those in charge of Celtic PR don’t think it’s appropriate to invite the Celtic fans media to participate in these media events. Sites like this one – and various others such as Video Celts, Celts Are Here etc have huge Celtic minded audiences yet are excluded entirely.