Hoops skipper Scott Brown believes that Celtic need to maximise their home form in the UEFA Champions League if they are to give themselves a fighting chance of securing European football beyond Christmas.

The Celtic captain is currently on time out as the bulk of the Parkhead squad head out on international duty but he is well aware that the looming double header against Borussia Monchengladbach will be key to the club’s fortunes in Europe.

“It is going to be hard for us because there are a lot of games in a short space of time but that is what happens when you are in the Champions League and in the semi-finals of Cups,” said the 31-year-old.”We just want to get as many points as we can but we know it is going to be two hard games. We need to do as well as we possibly can at home.”

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And, speaking at a Show Racism the Red Card event, Brown told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that he still anticipates a title challenge to come for Celtic, despite the swashbuckling manner in which Brendan Rodgers’ side have started their league campaign.

However, it is from Pittodrie and Tynecastle rather than Ibrox where the Celtic captain sees a challenge emanating as the Hoops look to clock up a sixth successive championship.

Read more: Celtic captain Scott Brown is still nifty at fifty ahead of Hampden return

Former Celtic player and manager Kenny Dalglish said this week that they could give Celtic the title just now, with which Brown responded: “It is nice of Kenny to say that and we would take it now if we could but Aberdeen will battle all the way and so will Hearts.

“We are only seven games into the season but it seems like it has been an epic so far. We are enjoying every moment, training has been exceptional and we are still getting to the level of match fitness that the gaffer wants us to be at. We will get there slowly.”

Meanwhile, Brown believes that Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths can bring out the best in one another this season as both striker fight for a place in the starting XI.

The form of Dembele has had tongues wagging with his 12 goals from his opening chapter at the club, including a hat-trick against Rangers and a brace against Manchester City.

“I think Leigh overshadowed him in the first few games of the season but he is doing really well for us now and hopefully he can continue that over the course of the season,” said Brown. “We have two guys who can score goals so we can either play them together or continue with what we are doing. Moussa is doing well but you can always rely on Leigh to score 30-40 goals a season so they are driving each other on.”

Brown already has one eye on his career beyond the pitch, with the player undertaking coaching badges and involved in the development team at Celtic.

As such he has been privy to the accelerated progress of Karamoko Dembele, who stole much of the headlines this week.

Read more: Celtic captain Scott Brown is still nifty at fifty ahead of Hampden return

“He has been broadcast quite a lot,” said Brown with a slight chide to his tone. “I have seen his Instagram and he has been up at Lennoxtown a wee bit but he still has a long way to go.

“I think when you see him running past 13 and 14-year-olds at Barcelona as though they aren’t there then you think he has got something about him. But our gaffer will teach him a lot and the whole academy are great with the guys coming through and they look to protect them as much as possible.”