Celtic’s Scott Brown in talks with union over summer break

Scott Brown has revealed he is among the players liaising with PFA Scotland over the union’s attempts to establish a legal framework for a statutory four-week summer break for footballers across the country.

The Celtic captain offered a sarcastic “lovely” over the summer tour that will see Scotland play friendlies in Peru and Mexico in the first week of June – likely less than a fortnight before the country’s league champions will require to reconvene in preparation for a first-round Champions League qualifier.

Brown, who has yet to make a decision over whether he continues to represent Scotland, believes Celtic players in particular – the core of the Scottish team and on course to be the country’s representative in European football’s blue riband tournament – are being pushed to breaking point by the fixture calendar.

PFA Scotland legal representative Liam O’Donnell is pushing to ensure that the top players in the country are afforded proper down time – which is at odds with Scotland taking on friendly fixtures such as this summer’s tour on the other side of the Atlantic.

“The PFA have spoken to me about what they are trying to do with the four-week holiday and if they can do that it would be phenomenal,” said the 32-year-old Scotland

captain. “I think Liam is understanding how hard it is on everyone’s bodies, and the need for rest and recovery.

“I had six days off last summer [because of the Scotland-England game on 10 June].

That’s me played 40 games before new year. I’ve had a winter break in Dubai and people might think of the break, but we got battered every day in training. It was hard but it was enjoyable.

“It’s about keeping our bodies going and two weeks isn’t long enough for the young lads and people like Kieran [Tierney]. That is 42 games Kieran played before the new year. It is the most in European football, so our lads have been getting battered more than anyone.”