SCOTT BROWN believes Celtic are now playing “proper football” which will take them into Europe after Christmas.

The captain took part in too many games in which his team-mates did their best to survive a battering and, to use his example, hope Shunsuke Nakamura puts a free-kick in the top corner.

Celtic just have to get Astana out of the way tonight and then all thoughts will be on Thursday’s draw which the skipper is relishing – even if this game comes first.

Read more: Nir Bitton: Nobody will want Celtic as the danger team in pot four after we ran Man City close and hammered Astana

Glasgow Times: 21/08/17. CELTIC TRAINING. ASTANA - KAZAKHSTAN. Celtic's Scott Brown..

And he insisted the Brendan Rodgers’ way has taken Celtic to a different and better level.

Brown said: “We had 500 passes against Astana and some of them even went forward! Everyone brings up the Barcelona stat to us from a few years back. They had about 900 passes at Parkhead - and we had about 110.

“I watched it again on television and I thought to get 110 was fantastic!

“But this is proper football we are playing now. We have a manager who is trying to better everyone and we are trying to better ourselves. We’re flying the flag for Scottish football as well and we want to push it as far as we can go.

“It is an achievement for a Scottish side to have 500 passes. As a midfielder, I want to be keeping the ball. At 32 I don’t want to be chasing all the time any more. I want to be dictating the play and that’s what we are trying to do.

“We want to do that against the best teams in the world and not just be running around and defending for 90 minutes, then hoping for a set piece.

“Our mentality is we will score a goal wherever we go. We defended very well in Rosenborg and creates a few chances. They came at us in the second half but we have two great wingers with pace and a striker who knows how to score goals.

Read more: Sing a song for James! Brendan Rodgers urges Celtic fans to show Forrest more love

“We know we can defend but we also know we have the pace to attack on the counter as well. We’ll get chances, it’s just a matter of putting them away.”

A third placed finish would mean Celtic dropping into the Europa League in the new year. This, for Brown, is the minimum goal.

“The way we play are definitely capable of being there after Christmas,” said Brown. “This is the best football side I have been involved in during my time here. We are bullying teams with the ball, pressing them high and making them punt it long.

“We used to do it as well but now we have a manager who did fantastically well with Liverpool and Swansea, who bases his game on passing and pressing.

“The team has bonded on and off the park. It’s nothing to do with socialising, it’s to do with meetings and training sessions, working on our game plan. It’s easy to say it but it’s a different matter to go and do it, but the manager gets his message across.

“Everything is extremely professional with the gaffer and his backroom staff. They work out everything that is best for us as a team and as individuals.

“We run through different formations depending on whether we are on or off the ball. We have probably got three or four different formations and all of the lads understand their roles.

Read more: Nir Bitton: Nobody will want Celtic as the danger team in pot four after we ran Man City close and hammered Astana

“We dictate how we play due to our pressing. It’s about winning the ball back, being brave to take the ball from Craig at the back instead of hitting it long and hoping Leigh Griffiths will stick one away.”

As for this match, Brown is hardly the type to take his eye off the ball, both literally and figuratively.

Sure, Astana themselves say there is a one per cent chance of a miracle. The Celtic captain won’t even allow as much as that.

Brown said: “You can’t start to think about that (the draw) because you get slack and then you’re misplacing passes. I don’t think the scoreline matters. We have prepared for this game as we do any other through the week.

“We’ve watch them, the way they play and so to make sure we do exactly the same here as we did in Glasgow. We want to put them under pressure and hopefully create a few chances.

“We want to be one of the first teams to come here, going back a couple of seasons in Europe, and win. Not a lot of teams have done that in Astana. We played against Legia Warsaw and they came here and lost 3-1.

Read more: Sing a song for James! Brendan Rodgers urges Celtic fans to show Forrest more love

“It is a hard place to come. It’s astrotruf. But we want to be one of the few to come away with a win.”

Nobody has played more game in Europe for Celtic than the captain and he is a long way off from being finished.

He said: “I don’t think a lot of people would have thought I play so many European games when I first signed. When Celtic came in, I wasn’t thinking about the Champions League, I just wanted to join a huge club and it was an opportunity to work with a great manager.

“The Champions League, for me, came second. I wanted to better myself before anything else. Then I grew to love the club and playing for Celtic in the Champions League. I miss it every season we’re not in it and I hope last season’s campaign can push us on now.”