Scott Brown urges Celtic to keep unbeaten run going
Monday 31 July 2017 15:39, UK
Scott Brown has challenged Celtic to stretch their unbeaten domestic run as far as they can ahead of the new Scottish Premier League season.
Manager Brendan Rodgers led the Hoops to an unbeaten domestic treble in his first campaign at the club, winning the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup last season.
Celtic have not tasted defeat in any domestic competition since May 2016 - a record that currently stands at 48 matches - and Brown hopes there will be no let up when they face Hearts on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football HD from 12pm.
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"We want to try and push that as far as we can, every game is going to be hard, especially the opening game of the season. Our fans will be there and will be behind us all," the Celtic captain told Sky Sports News.
"We've got to maintain our levels that we played at last season. It was an exciting start last season and we kicked on. Nobody thought we could go all the way [unbeaten], but we managed to do that.
"But that was last season, it's all been forgotten about now and we've got to start fresh again.
"The first game of the season is against a good old pal, Christophe Berra. I'll be looking forward to him kicking me and it should be a good contest."
Brown is also hoping Celtic keep hold of Moussa Dembele amid growing interest in the French forward.
Dembele moved to Celtic from Fulham for £500,000 last summer and enjoyed a sensational first season in Scotland, scoring 32 goals.
Sky sources understand AC Milan and Marseille are interested in signing Dembele, but Brown is keen for the 21-year-old to remain at Celtic Park.
"We want him to be at the club for as long as possible," he said.
"He's got strength and different sort of qualities. When he played in Champions League matches, he scored and created chances. His hold up play was fantastic.
"Yet again, we've got Leigh Griffiths there and he scored 40 goals the season before. He didn't have as many games last season, but still scored a fair amount of goals."
