Celtic players jump through hoops for new boys

Scott Brown insists his seamless transition into the Celtic midfield alongside fellow new boy Massimo Donati is all down to help from the rest of the Hoops players.

The 22-year-old signed for £4.4million from Hibernian earlier this summer, a record transfer fee between two Scottish clubs.

Donati, aged 26, arrived from AC Milan for a reported fee of £3million as manager Gordon Strachan attempted to revamp his side for a tilt at their third Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League title in a row.

While Celtic have been indifferent during their pre-season games, with several established players coming in for criticism, the Scotland international and Donati have performed as if they were regulars.

And in Sunday’s friendly against Parma at Celtic Park, the former Easter Road player, along with sponsors’ man of the match Donati, were the pick of the bunch.

Brown said: “All the lads have made me and especially Massimo, who doesn’t speak the best of English, more than welcome

“All the lads try and help him the best they can. It hasn’t been any bother for me. We are all footballers at Celtic and we want to keep the ball.

“I’ve just got to keep playing for the team and the main thing is to play well and win. The lads are delighted with the game against Parma. We won the game, which is what we are here to do, and we kept a clean sheet.”

A late goal by Aiden McGeady gave the home side a morale-boosting win ahead of their SPL opener with Kilmarnock next Sunday.

However, with suspensions and injuries to contend with, manager Gordon Strachan will spend the week pondering who his starting XI will be against the Ayrshire men.

Number one goalkeeper Artur Boruc is out for two or three weeks with a shoulder injury and could miss the first leg of Celtic’s Champions League third-round qualifier which will take place on August 14 or 15.

The Poland International picked up the knock during the friendly against Newcastle at St James’ on Thursday night and will be replaced by his deputy Mark Brown, who looked assured enough against Parma.

Japan international Shunsuke Nakamura was involved in the Asian Cup this summer and will not report back to Celtic Park until Friday, which is likely to leave Sunday’s midfield of McGeady, Brown, Donati and Paul Hartley intact for the visit of Killie.

New signing Scott McDonald, who has also impressed in pre-season after signing from Motherwell, is suspended for the first two SPL games of the season leaving Strachan to come up with a new strike partner for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.