Scott Brown believes that Brendan Rodgers’ tactical flexibility will be key to Celtic making it into the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

The Parkhead side report back for pre-season training on June 20th with season tickets expected to reach sell-out point by the time the campaign begins.

That in itself is indicative of the excitement with which the appointment of Rodgers has been received, but it is an enthusiasm that has been shared by the Hoops players.

Rodgers has already met up with the Parkhead skipper over dinner and Brown has been impressed with what the manager has had to say.

“It’s going to be exciting times,” Brown told celticfc.net.”His ideas and philosophy are great and it’s going to help me and a lot of the lads in the changing room. I'm looking forward to it.

“He spoke about a lot of things, such as responsibilities, talking on and off the park, bringing the lads as close as together as possible, making sure we have a good team morale and that we work hard on the park.

“The main thing is to get as fit as soon as possible for the Champions League qualifiers. We need to try and get through them to reach the Champions League as that is where this club deserves to be and hopefully we will be there this season.

“It’s going to be good for us because he’s going to chop and change formations, and we're not just going to be one-dimensional so that will be something to keep everyone on their toes,” continued Brown.

And the Celtic midfielder has also congratulated chief executive for being able to secure the signature of former Liverpool boss Rodgers.

There were 13,000 fans inside Celtic Park to welcome the Northern Irishman to Glasgow on the day he was formally paraded in front of the media and Brown is keen to get on board.

“It’s a huge name for everyone and everyone will learn a lot from him and that’s what we wanted, and Peter and the club have done really well to get him on board,” he said.

“He’s managed huge clubs and almost won the league with Liverpool a couple of seasons back. To have 13,000 fans come to the stadium to see him is something some clubs don’t even get on matchdays and it shows how well-respected he is by the Celtic fans.”

Brown himself has already started some light running in an attempt to ensure he is fully fit for the start of the season.

The midfielder played the latter months of the season with tendonitis in both hamstrings and missed the remaining three league games.

However, he has had a decent break and now has his sights set on going into pre-season fully fit.

“It was both my hamstrings and I also got bone bruising against Hearts in my final game so I was falling to bits towards the end of the season,” explained Brown. “The rest is always good and it’s the longest I've had since coming to Celtic and it was definitely needed.

“I have had a few days off which were good and I have just been trying to get over my injuries and making sure they are okay for the start of pre-season. I started back running the other day there and I feel okay so hopefully I can kick on now.

“I feel good and it’s all about getting a touch of the ball now and getting back in with the lads, playing games and getting my fitness going.”

Although Brown has yet to meet the other new members of Brendan Rodgers' backroom team - assistant manager, Chris Davies, and new head of performance, Glen Driscoll - he is confident about establishing a strong working relationship with them.

He smiled: “I haven’t met them but I am the same age as Chris so at least we have something in common so far.

"But I have heard a lot about him and when I spoke to the gaffer, he was buzzing about him so I’m sure we will get on well because if the gaffer speaks so highly about someone like that, then you don’t take that lightly.

"They have done really well previously in the game and hopefully they can do the same with us.”