CELTIC skipper Scott Brown is ready to take a break before the title celebrations against Inverness Caley Thistle a week on Sunday.
The all-action midfielder is likely to miss the encounter against St Johnstone in Perth on Friday – on the instructions of Ronny Deila.
Brown, the matchwinner against Aberdeen on Sunday, revealed the Hoops boss has offered him the chance to take a week off.
He will figure in Gordon Strachan’s Scotland plans against Qatar and Republic of Ireland next month before returning to start preparations for the Champions League qualifying games.
Brown, who has played 50 games already this season for club and country, said: “I spoke to the gaffer and he offered me the chance of a week off.
“It is my call whether or not I take it and we’ll see. It is maybe good to give other lads a shot.
“It has been a long season and we don’t really have a long break once the international games are finished.
“To be fair, the gaffer has already said that those of us playing games with our countries will get an extra couple of days, but it is not a huge amount of time off.”
The 29-year-old added: “The gaffer is trying to make sure we get three or four weeks to get a proper break.
“Everyone needs it. I do think it is hard trying to sustain this tempo every week. If I don’t take the break this week then it would end up that it is two seasons in a row that I have pretty much played right through, so maybe the thinking is that I would be wise to take it.
“There are a lot of games. I always want to play, but I can understand why the manager has given me the option.”
The Parkhead dynamo also believes there is a lot more to come from Deila’s team.
He admitted: “The spirit and the character in this side are good. You can see that with the performance against Aberdeen. We have won the league, but we want to keep going.
“I have played in lots of Celtic teams and the guys in here live up to any one of the guys I have played with. But, for me, what makes it work all the time is results.
“You need to be winning and being successful, that is what it is all about.
“We have big European games coming up at the start of the season and that is where we need to go and show how much we have improved as a team.”
