SCOTT Brown is a veteran of Flag Day at Paradise, having experienced it on numerous occasions throughout his time at Celtic.

His enthusiasm for the day remains undiminished, however, and he is looking forward to Saturday’s occasion as the Hoops celebrate their eight-in-a-row success before kicking off the new Premiership campaign with a game against St Johnstone.

The Celtic skipper is also approaching the 12th anniversary of his competitive debut for the club, which came on Flag Day 2007, and he is relishing the forthcoming season and the challenges it will inevitably bring.

Speaking at Lennoxtown today (Thursday), Brown said: “I feel like a young pup. I’ve got two years left and I certainly hope to make the most of them, so long as I’ve still got that drive to do what I do.

“Saturday is going to be fantastic. It will be great for us to unveil the flag at Celtic Park again, and for the families of Billy and Stevie to come along and do that. It shows you it’s a family club and it shows you how close a bond everyone has at this club.”

The mantra from within the Celtic squad, as always, is about taking one game at a time, and so the focus is solely on St Johnstone before attention turns to next week’s trip to Romania and a Champions League qualifier against CFR Cluj.

However, the chat amongst supporters is of the significance of the Premiership campaign ahead and, more specifically, on the bid to make it nine-in-a-row.

Brown and his team-mates are well aware of that, of course, and the captain knows that, given the target every season is to try and win every domestic competition – something Celtic have successfully done for three consecutive years now – success again this time around will secure that ninth successive title.

“That’s our aim,” he said. “We’ve managed it for the last eight seasons and it’s been fantastic, so we need to push for this season the exact same as we have been doing all the way through. We’ve got the players, squad and a manager who’s got the belief in us to go and do it.

“There’s always going to be a strong challenge. It’s going to be hard this season as it is every other season. We look forward to that challenge, and the main aim for us is to start the league well and get into the group stages of the Champions League as well.”

Scott Brown: Our aim is to enjoy another title-winning season