HOW does Patrick Roberts choose to make the most of a few days off on a fallow international week? Strangely omitted from Aidy Boothroyd’s England Under-21 squad for the trip to Andorra, he could have spent the time watching his Celtic pals playing for Scotland against Slovakia at Hampden, checked out England at Wembley, or jetted out to all manner of the glamorous destinations where so many young, well-remunerated footballers are occasionally observed on their downtime.

But no, none of the above. Instead, this 20-year-old from Kingston-Upon-Thames spent the weekend huddled around a sparsely-populated public park, watching his big brother Adam starring for Barnes Eagles in the Chiswick and District Sunday League.

He wouldn’t have missed it for the world, not least because it just so happened that his brother missed a penalty during the encounter, allowing the younger Roberts to record the whole thing on his smartphone for posterity. Let’s just say it will be family affair of a different sort when Adam, who has become as enthusiastic a follower of Celtic as any, boards a flight to Munich next week to take a seat in the Allianz Arena.

“I’ve had a few days off and I’m fit and ready to go,” said Roberts. “I’ve been in the England system for a while now and it’s great going away with international squads. However, when you don’t you need to use your time wisely, recuperate and get ready for the games ahead.

“Whether my not going to the Under-20 World Cup in the summer had an impact on that decision, I don’t know – the manager picks his squad and I’ll just keep playing my football and scoring my goals here. After that, what happens, happens.

“But I went to London for a few days and watched my brother, Adam, play,” Roberts added. “He turns out for a team in Hounslow and also plays with his mates for a team called Barnes Eagles in the Chiswick and District Sunday League. That’s quite enjoyable for me.

“He’s not bad and he scores a few goals but every time I turn up he seems to slow down a bit. I was playing at that level until I was about 14 and I know a few of the other boys in his team. I enjoy going there because it reminds of me on how much fun I had when I was playing there.

“As for as the crowd, there were just a few lads and the usual couple of dogs at the game. My Dad and I were there and Adam missed a penalty – I took a video of him doing it and his mates were laughing. He’s had some stick but he gave me pelters for my miss against Rangers at Hampden a couple of seasons back.”

While results are more important when it comes to keeping 60,000 fans happy at a global footballing brand like Celtic, maintaining that fun element is important and if you can’t enjoy a 58-match unbeaten domestic run you never will. While supreme fitness and high pressing is part of his managerial mantra, Rodgers spoke yesterday about how the way forward for Scottish football is allowing technical players to thrive and no-one embodies that more than Roberts. “Everyone is in a good mood right now, we’re winning games and playing good football and that’s what we like,” said the 20-year-old. “Obviously, we know that we need to win games but we still go out there and have fun and everyone has a smile on their face. There are always going to be bad times in football so we need to be able to enjoy this.

“The manager here is great,” Roberts added. “He wants us to do certain things but he also wants us to use our imagination and creativity. That’s where our best football comes from, just playing off the cuff and improvising, creating chances and scoring goals and we’ve done that brilliantly at times this season. Right now, we don’t really think about it [the run]. We just go out there to try and get the three points. Nothing else really comes into our heads about being unbeaten or anything like that. It’s a big midweek for us in Munich but first of all we have to make sure we get the win against Dundee.”

Celtic came within 11 minutes of losing that run at home to Hibs at the last time of asking, and once again they will be without midfield duo Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong against Dundee. Both should be fit to return against Bayern Munich, along with Jozo Simunovic, after muscle strains but Roberts accepts the dynamic is different without their team’s on-field minder, even if he is just as vocal when he is out injured.

“Scott is a massive player for club and country,” said Roberts. “He is the spearhead, the motivator and the leader in our team. Without him, it’s something different. But we have a quality squad and can put other players in to do the job. He’s even worse behind the scenes when he’s injured! Whether he’s on the bike, or he’s out running, he’s got a louder voice.”