Scott Brown admits he’d love to have been preparing to head to the Euros with Scotland this summer, but not at the expense of his Celtic career.
The veteran midfielder made his Parkhead bow against St Johnstone last night before ending his time at the club back where his career started on Saturday away to Hibs.
Brown will continue playing next season as he takes up a joint role as Stephen Glass’ player/assistant at Aberdeen.
With Scotland making their first appearance at a major finals in 23 years, Brown would of course have loved nothing more than to be leading them against the Czech Republic, England and Croatia next month.
He retired from international duty in February 2016 and with the benefit of hindsight, still believes it was the correct call given the years he’s had in the Hoops.
He told Sky Sports : “I’d have loved to have still been there, but I’d have been 36 by the time the Euros come around.
“The lads have done fantastic to get there, they've worked extremely hard and I don’t think I’d still be at Celtic if I was playing for Scotland as well.
“That would have had a big impact on my career and my body as well. I think I stepped away at the right time.
“I spoke to Gordon [Strachan] and Brendan [Rodgers] a lot about this and how it was about being selfish now at the end of my career, looking after myself and trying to play as many games as I possibly can for Celtic.
“Looking at it now, of course I’d love to be going to the Euros and be part of it now because I played over a decade for Scotland and didn’t get to the Euros or a World Cup.
“So that’s a little bit sad that it’s not been ticked off on the CV but to be perfectly honest, I've had so many great years here, I probably wouldn’t still be playing here now at 35/36 if I’d still been playing with Scotland today."
