Delighted Scott Brown has admitted the fear of stopping Celtic's record-breaking title push at eight was the impetus to push on to win this season's trophy.
The Premiership was called today after the SPFL decided that there was no way to finish the season.
With the Hoops 13 points clear, they were comfortable winners via the average points system used to finalise placings.
And Brown's relentless drive not to fall at the final hurdle was key to their mental strength in coming back from Celtic's December defeat to rivals Rangers.
Brown told Celtic TV : “When we got eight-in-a-row, we were extremely focused to make sure we got the nine.
"We know how hard we’ve worked over the years. To get eight, and then not get over the line to get nine, that fantastic record, would have been extremely harsh on us, especially with what we’ve done over the years.
“We knew that after December, we had to focus in order to make sure we were on our game every single week and that we pushed each other. We’ve done that since then and we’ve worked extremely hard. For us, these seven weeks have been our recovery. Now, whenever training is ready to go, we’ll be ready to start.
“It’ll be amazing to get everyone back to Celtic Park, to see everyone’s faces, and to see us lift the trophy as well. We can’t wait to get back to winning ways, and we need to make sure that we push and work as hard as we possibly can to get 10, and I’m sure all the fans will be backing us all the way.”
And Brown assured fans his side would ease the pain of missing out on a big Celtic Park celebration with a huge Zoom call.
He added: “It’s incredible, to be perfectly honest. We obviously wanted to play every single game but, due to the circumstances, we’ve not been able to. I think the league has done the right thing having crowned us champions, because it was only a matter of time anyway.
“We do our talking on the park, and we’ve shown over the last nine seasons with how consistent we’ve been. We wanted to continue that, we wanted to show how dominant we’ve been with the leagues as well.
“I feel for the lads because we’re not able to get the trophy, we’re not able to have trophy day with the fans and with our families as well. It’s hard for the lads that way, but I’m sure we’ll get a Zoom call and we’ll all celebrate that way!”
