Hoops skipper Scott Brown has confirmed that he will be available for Scotland FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovenia next month.

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan had hinted that Brown would be back at Hampden for the game but the Celtic captain yesterday confirmed that he will play for his country.

“We’ll see if I get the call but I am available,” said Brown. “Gordon and myself speak regularly and he knows I’m available but it’s up to him to pick me.

“That will be for the next game and then we’ll take it from there."

It is unlikely, however, that Brown will be available to Strachan for the visit of England to Hampden on June 10th. Celtic return to pre-season training less than a fortnight after the game in order to prepare for UEFA Champions League qualifying matches which essentially underpin the tone of the Parkhead side’s season.

Brown’s return for the Slovenia game is cognisant on the fact that he wishes to keep club commitments at the forefront of his preparations this summer. The 31-year-old had tendonitis last year which kept him sidelined for three months under previous Celtic manager Ronny Deila.

It is understood the player as well as his club manager, Brendan Rodgers, believe he requires sufficient rest between back-to-back campaigns in which Celtic will play around 60 games each time.

“The England game is the big problem for me. I’ve spoken before about the importance of the game and what it means but at the moment all I’m thinking about is getting three points for Scotland against Slovenia and then go from there.

“Everyone wants to take it one game at a time. It would be a huge three points if we could beat Slovenia, it would keep us right in the group.

“We’ve had some disappointing results that have been hard to take. But it could just take that one big result to get us back in the fight for the group.

“The thing I’ve got going for me is Gordon. Everyone knows who close we are.

“The game by game thing is huge for me. It’s not like I’m saying I’ll play this one game and then go back in to retirement.”

Wary of being labelled as the player who picks and chooses his games, Brown is nevertheless mindful of balancing international involvement with club commitments.

The Celtic captain stepped down from Scotland duty before stepping back into squad in October for the game against England at Wembley.

While it is believed that he answered the call from Strachan for that game, it is crucial to the player that any arrangement is given on a game by game basis as Celtic take precedence.

“I don’t think they have looked at Celtic’s schedule!” he joked. “It’s okay for the guys in England, they can come back then they are away again for another four weeks.

“They obviously haven’t considered Scottish players though. We could have six players in the Scotland squad who would be back within a fortnight for the qualifiers.

“I don’t want to be the guy who picks and chooses what games I play.

“But I’ve made myself available for this one and we’ll see what happens.”