Brendan Rodgers believes that Scott Brown’s decision to retire from international football will elongate his Celtic career.

The Hoops skipper announced his decision yesterday morning after consultations with Rodgers and the Celtic manager expects that it means his captain can easily continue playing at the top level until he is 35.

Brown, 31, will step aside before the FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign starts next month and Rodgers commended the decision.

“Scotty can at least get to 35,” said Rodgers. “That’s another four years –then it’s up to him.

“I think at this point in his career it is probably really sensible,” said the Celtic manager. Probably for the first time in his life he has to think of himself and his body and the stage of his career that he is at.

“He is a very loyal man and it is a decision that has been tough for him. He is very close and works very closely with Gordon [Strachan] and respects him and the influence that he has had on him but thankfully Gordon understands it as well.”

And, as Celtic look towards a full season that will see them play on the European and domestic front – Europa League football is assured even if there is a catastrophe in Israel on Tuesday night – Rodgers believes the time had come for Brown to take stock of the amount of games he was clocking up.

Last season the midfielder returned prematurely from injury for Celtic and played the latter months with tendonitis, inevitably to the detriment of his performances.

And Rodgers believes that Brown himself has come to accept that to be at the peak of his game he needs to utilise his body wisely.

"It is great news for Celtic and for his family,” said Rodgers. “He is going to have time now to focus on one team and sit in the background and support Scotland from afar but from a Celtic perspective I think you see the benefits.

"It would have had an impact, no doubt, on the quality of his game. If you look at it now he has been back in from the 25th June so if he continued all the way through this campaign his last game would be for Scotland against England in June 10th. Touch wood we are in the Champions League again next year and we are back in on the 25th June.

“So there is a consequence of that. These are guys, they are footballers, they are not robots. They are athletes and footballers and human beings. He is a player who has been playing up to 60-odd games a season and in the latter stages of your life that starts to wear and tear on the body.

“At 31 years of age, if you have that whole season to go and then the possibility of that again - there is a consequence there. What happens then is that Celtic don't quite get the player because he will suffer and then Scotland doesn't quite get the same player because he is suffering with injury.

“And then it is no good for anyone. Thankfully Scotty, bless him, has looked at that and thought that there has got to be a bit of give somewhere.”