CELTIC manager Tony Mowbray will not risk Scott Brown's long-term fitness by rushing him into action for next month's crucial Champions League third qualifying round tie.
Brown has expressed his determination to be ready for the first leg of Celtic's European tie on 28 or 29 July, despite undergoing surgery on a troublesome ankle injury earlier this week.
But Celtic assistant manager Mark Venus, who worked with Bro
wn when he and Mowbray were in charge at Hibs, says the Scotland midfielder will only play when he has recovered 100 per cent fitness.
"It is very important Scott Brown is fit for the season, not for the first game," said Venus. "We have a decent size squad and there's no point having 24 players if you are not going to use them.
"Obviously, some players are more important than others in the manager's eyes, but if someone is injured, then he doesn't play. I've been with Tony for five years and he will not play a guy who has an injury. Because he might play that one game and then miss 20 games as a result of playing with an injury.
"If Scott is fit, great. If not, we keep going. I'm not an expert in where Scott is in his rehabilitation, but I saw him yesterday and he was on a bed with ice on the ankle which had the keyhole surgery."
Celtic must register their squad with Uefa on 23 July for the Champions League third qualifying round tie but Venus says the deadline will have no influence on Mowbray's recruitment policy. "Personally, I don't care how long it takes to bring people into this football club," added Venus. "If we have to miss the Champions League qualifier, the bottom line is, I'd like to think we will manage this football club for a lot of years and I'd like to think the players we are going to bring to this club are going to stay with us for a couple of years.
"So I would not want to panic into bringing in a footballer to do a job in July when I might regret bringing him in for the next four years."
Venus also played down the prospects of Celtic re-igniting their interest in Hibs striker Steven Fletcher before the new season.
"He was okay, a decent player with potential," Venus said. "He has done well for Hibs and scored a lot of goals. But I don't know if Steven's future is here. I think he has signed a new contract with Hibernian 12 months ago so I would suggest his future is there at the moment."
Venus is looking forward to being reunited with another player he worked with at Hibs, however, and praised the progress made by Gary Caldwell since they were at Easter Road together. "When Gary signed for Hibs, he was very much half a midfield player and half whatever else," recalled Venus. "Tony decided he was a centre-half and I agree. It is definitely his best position.
"I can only give the lad huge credit at going on to play or a big club and moving his career forward. He fully deserved the awards he received last season."
Bobo Balde, meanwhile, is set to leave Celtic at the end of this month when his £28,000-per-week contract finally runs out, and the defender has revealed he has had offers from English Premier League sides Birmingham City and Burnley.
"I have an offer of a trial with Birmingham City," he said. "They want me to join them for pre-season training on 8 July and, afterwards, they will decide whether they want to offer me a contract.
"Another promoted Premier League club, Burnley, have also approached me. Their offer is unconditional so I'll think it over and make a decision."
