Thursday 18 September 2014 17:49, UK
Celtic assistant manager John Collins believes Scott Brown’s return to action has given everyone at the club a lift.
Brown has been on the sidelines since July due to a hamstring problem but returned to action for an hour in the 2-1 home victory over Aberdeen last Saturday.
The midfielder will skipper the team in Thursday’s Europa League tie against Salzburg and Collins expects his presence to prompt a similar rise in tempo from his side in Austria.
"It is great to have him back," he told reporters at Glasgow Airport. "Anyone who saw the game on Saturday would have seen he brings so much experience, legs, power and skill while driving the other players forward.
"It is like having two or three players back when Scott is back in the park."
Following the disappointment in the Champions League qualifiers, Collins hopes Celtic can make their mark in the Europa League this season.
Celtic were beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Legia Warsaw before the Poles were dumped out on a technicality and the Hoops blew their second chance when going down 1-0 at home to Slovenian side Maribor, for a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
"I want to get to the final and win and if you ask the same question to the players I am sure they will give you the same answer," said Collins.
"There are a lot of good teams in the tournament but we will give it our best shot. We don't have a point to prove but we want to improve.
"We are all bitterly disappointed that we didn't qualify for the Champions League but you move on to the next challenge and the next challenge is Salzburg.
"It is a good challenge for us but we are confident of getting a result. I don't think a draw would be a bad result. We will have all the teams back at Celtic Park but we want to win every game."
