Scott Brown has welcomed the return of Charlie Mulgrew to the Celtic squad, and hopes that his Scotland teammate will remain at the club amid interest from the likes of Bournemouth.

Mulgrew made his long-awaited comeback from his latest injury setback in the Scottish Cup tie against East Kilbride last week, and was an unused substitute in the win over Ross County at the weekend.

Despite making just 15 Premiership appearances for the Hoops since the start of last season, Brown is backing Mulgrew to get over his injury nightmare and earn a new contract at Celtic Park.

“Charlie is a top-class player and he’s just getting his fitness back,” he said.

“He played against East Kilbride and got 70 minutes under his belt.

“It was good to have him back on the pitch because he’s a character. It’s great to have new faces and it’s almost like having one with him.

“Don’t forget that he was Scotland’s Player of the Year just two years ago and it’s been a big loss for us not having him in the squad for the last three or four months.

“Charlie’s a big-game player as well. He always turns up on the big occasions and that left foot of his is a wand.

“He was out for a while and then came back and hurt the same thigh again. That’s hard to take but he’s mentally tough. He’s come through it and he keeps coming back before he should because that’s the kind of person he is.

“Charlie always wants to be out on the training ground, working as hard as he possibly can. He does what he needs to do for his body, he knows how to get fit and he’s been doing that for weeks now.”

Brown has stressed the importance of hanging on to Scottish players like Mulgrew who have an affinity for the club and understand what Celtic are all about.

Despite his lack of first-team action over the past two seasons, the captain is urging the club to make a new contract offer to Mulgrew to prevent him moving on for free in the summer upon expiry of his contract.

“He loves the club,” Brown said.

“He was born a die-hard fan and he still is one and you need guys like that in the dressing room because they bring a lot to the club and fans like that.

“Charlie knows what it’s all about and he lives for this club. I’m not surprised that Bournemouth and Blackburn have been linked with him because he could easily play for those sides.

“That’s why we need to try and keep him because we’d miss if him if he left. You don’t want your quality players leaving for nothing.”