Scott Brown has opened up on discussions with Celtic over a coaching position before he landed his current role at Fleetwood Town.

The former Hoops captain hung up his playing boots back in May last year and following on from that, he then entered the world of management.

Brown has now revealed that he did have other options before he headed down south, but the former Scotland international was determined to become a manager in his own right.

Asked about a possible role at Parkhead, Brown admitted to Sky Sports: "Yeah I spoke to Celtic. I spoke to a few other people as well but I will always have that love for Celtic and watch the games on tele - that'll never die.

"To have the opportunity to speak to them... I will always speak to Celtic and I still do speak to Celtic.

"Not on a daily basis but now and then because I've got a game coming up too. I'm still tight with some of the lads but it wouldn't be me if I left and cut all ties.

"There were some fantastic players that I played with and great friends up there. The place means so much to me as well but it's now a different part of my life and that's back there at this moment in time."

On enjoying Celtic vs Rangers clashes as a fan now, Brown added: "Fun and games. yeah. I get to watch and chill now but it was never fun and games when I was playing.

"There's a lot of pressure building up to the game but your football takes over and your mindset switches off from the fans.

"You score a goal and you celebrate, you hear it all.

"But beforehand you're more focused on your job and what you need to do and where you are on the pitch - more than worrying if 60,000 fans love you or hate you."

Meanwhile, Mikey Johnston has not given up on his Celtic career as he continues his battle to feel “important”.

The 23-year-old took a further step towards doing that on Wednesday evening when he produced a thrilling cameo as a second-half substitute on his Republic of Ireland debut against Latvia.

Johnston is currently playing his football in Portugal on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes in an effort to regain his best form after a serious knee injury cost him almost a year of his fledgling career and left him struggling to force his way into Bhoys manager Ange Postecoglou’s plans.

Asked if he sees himself back at Celtic in the longer term, he said: “We will see. I want to enjoy football and I want to play, I don’t want to sit on the bench and not get games. I just want to feel important.

“Last year I did still play 20 games for Celtic, so it’s not like I was pushed out the door. I played in a cup final for him [Postecoglou], he gave me an extra year when I left the club, so that gave me the faith to say he wants me to come back to the club and produce.

“There’s a lot of players in that position, maybe six or seven wingers including myself. I needed consistency, needed more minutes. We had an honest conversation and he said it was best I went elsewhere to get them minutes and I was fine with that.

“I needed a bit of a freshen-up. Opinions on me weren’t accurate and I wanted to change that. I had to get away from the UK, to be honest.”