SCOTT Brown summed up Celtic’s historic win against Lazio as one of the greatest moments of his career and said he is excited by the potential of the current Hoops team. Brown became the first Celtic captain in the club’s history to lead the Hoops to victory on Italian soil as Neil Lennon’s side defeated Serie A side, Lazio, 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The win came on the seventh anniversary of Celtic’s famous 2-1 win against Barcelona at Paradise, and the scale of the achievement in Rome drew comparisons to the toppling of the Catalan giants.

Brown was unable to play his part in that Champions League game back in 2012 due to illness, but he said captaining the team to a win in Italy was a proud accolade in his career.

“It doesn’t matter who plays. If Celtic win I’m smiling,” said Brown, “but to be part of that win in Rome was very special. It ranks right up there with my best wins in Europe with Celtic. To become the first team to win on Italian soil shows you just how big it is.”

Neil Lennon’s side now sit top of Group E with 10 points and have qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League with two games remaining.

Brown lauded his team-mates with praise for their performance in last night’s (Thursday) game and said the result highlighted the potential of team.

“Fraser and the boys at the back dealt really well with the Lazio strikers and we were able to push bodies forward,” said the 34-year-old. “Mo and Ryan worked their socks off and put their players under so much pressure.

“The winning goal just sums us up really. We won the ball back and then Oli and Odsonne did their stuff. It was a great pass and a great finish. We all know Oli has that in his locker and he produced a quality finish. I actually thought his touch was a bit too heavy but the angle didn’t matter to him. We had the belief and trust in him and it was a special goal.

“To qualify with two games to go is big because people probably wrote us off after Cluj. It was a hard group but we have dug deep and got the results. We got a draw in Rennes and then took nine points against Cluj and Lazio.

“To win in Rome shows that we’re learning, we’re going forward as a team and it’s exciting.”

Scott Brown: Lazio win shows potential of this Celtic team