Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, has pinpointed Brendan Rodgers’ reputation for tactical fluidity as the key to potential UEFA Champions League success this season.

The Parkhead side face three qualifying rounds to get into the group stages of Europe’s premier competition with their opening hurdle coming on the 12th or 13th July with pressure surrounding qualification after two successive failures.

Ronny Deila, the previous Celtic manager, was thwarted at the final stage last summer when the club lost to Malmo but the Norwegian’s rigidity as he favoured a one-striker system was heavily criticised, as was his lack of a second plan when things did not go Celtic’s way.

And it is the reputation which Rodgers’ brings for being able to show a willingness to change his system that has been welcomed by Brown.

“It’s going to be exciting times,” Brown told celticfc.net.”His ideas and philosophy are great and it’s going to help me and a lot of the lads in the changing room. I'm looking forward to it.

“He spoke about a lot of things, such as responsibilities, talking on and off the park, bringing the lads as close as together as possible, making sure we have a good team morale and that we work hard on the park.

“The main thing is to get as fit as soon as possible for the Champions League qualifiers. We need to try and get through them to reach the Champions League as that is where this club deserves to be and hopefully we will be there this season.

“It’s going to be good for us because he’s going to chop and change formations, and we're not just going to be one-dimensional so that will be something to keep everyone on their toes.”

And the Celtic midfielder has also congratulated chief executive Peter Lawwell for being able to secure the signature of former Liverpool boss Rodgers, an appointment that has been regarded as a significant coup for the club.

There were 13,000 fans inside Celtic Park to welcome the Northern Irishman to Glasgow on the day he was formally paraded in front of the media and Brown is keen to buy into Rodgers’ vision.

There were suggestions that Brown was not entirely in favour of Deila’s training ground methods with the Norwegian’s paleo dietary requirements reported to have irked some of the playing squad, while Brown publicly contradicted Deila’s “24-hour athlete” philosophy when he was pictured drunk on an Edinburgh pavement, munching into late night takeaway just days before a league cup final.

The respect he already holds for Rodgers suggests he has bought into the new manager’s ideals privately as well as publicly.

“It’s a huge name for everyone and everyone will learn a lot from him and that’s what we wanted, and Peter and the club have done really well to get him on board,” he said.

“He’s managed huge clubs and almost won the league with Liverpool a couple of seasons back. To have 13,000 fans come to the stadium to see him is something some clubs don’t even get on matchdays and it shows how well-respected he is by the Celtic fans.”

Brown himself has already started some light running in an attempt to ensure he is fully fit for the start of the season.

The midfielder played the latter months of the season with tendonitis in both hamstrings and missed the remaining three league games.

However, he has had a decent break and now has his sights set on going into pre-season fully fit.

“It was both my hamstrings and I also got bone bruising against Hearts in my final game so I was falling to bits towards the end of the season,” explained Brown. “The rest is always good and it’s the longest I've had since coming to Celtic and it was definitely needed.

“I have had a few days off which were good and I have just been trying to get over my injuries and making sure they are okay for the start of pre-season. I started back running the other day there and I feel okay so hopefully I can kick on now.

“I feel good and it’s all about getting a touch of the ball now and getting back in with the lads, playing games and getting my fitness going.”