SCOTT BROWN today hinted he would miss Friday night's Premiership clash at St Johnstone ...

on the advice of Celtic manager Ronny Deila.

Skipper Brown - who had a pie thrown at him after he netted the only goal as the Hoops made it four wins out of four against Aberdeen - revealed Deila has offered him the chance to take a week off to be fully rested for pre-season training.

Brown will feature for Scotland against Qatar and Republic of Ireland in June before returning to start preparations for the Parkhead side's Champions League qualifying games.

The combative midfielder, who has played 50 games already this season for club and country, said: "I spoke to the gaffer and he offered me the chance of a week off. It is my call whether or not I take it and we'll see. It is maybe good to give other lads a shot as well.

"It has been a long season and we don't really have a long break once the international games are finished. To be fair, the gaffer has already said that those of us playing games with our countries will get an extra couple of days, but it is not a huge amount of time off."

Celtic play St Johnstone in Perth on Friday before they finish the season against Inverness at Celtic Park on Sunday, May 24, where they will be presented with the league trophy.

While Brown will be back in the team for that last game as he lifts Celtic's fourth successive league championship, he understands the reasons behind allowing him to take a breather this week.

"The gaffer is trying to make sure we get three or four weeks to get a proper break," he said.

"Everyone needs it. I do think it is hard trying to sustain this tempo every week. If I don't take the break this week then it would end up that it is two seasons in a row that I have pretty much played right through, so maybe the thinking is that I would be wise to take it.

"There are a lot of games. I always want to play, but I can understand why the manager has given me the option."

While pleased with his part in yesterday's victory, Brown nevertheless believes there is still much more to come from Deila's men.

"The spirit and the character in this side is good," he said. "You can see that with the performance against Aberdeen. We have won the league, but we want to keep going.

"I have played in lots of Celtic teams and the guys in here live up to any one of the guys I have played with. But, for me, what makes it work all the time is results.

"You need to be winning and being successful, that is what it is all about.

"We have big European games coming up at the start of the season and that is where we need to go and show how much we have improved as a team."

And it was with some modesty that Brown described his goal which he initiated when he took the ball from Aberdeen midfielder Barry Robson at the edge of the Celtic box.

He said: "Stuart Armstrong twisted and turned and cut it back and, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't miss. It was ideal for me."