Scott Brown: Celtic treble winners 'best' squad captain has played with

Celtic celebrate
Scott Brown leads the Celtic celebrations after their win over Aberdeen

Celtic captain Scott Brown says the current squad is the best he has played with in his decade at the club.

Saturday's 2-1 Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen sealed an unprecedented, unbeaten domestic treble for Celtic.

"It's phenomenal," said midfielder Brown, who has won seven league titles, three Scottish Cups and three League Cups with the Glasgow side.

"For the 10 years I've been here this is best, most determined bunch of lads I've ever played with."

No Scottish club had previously won the treble without losing a game, and 31-year-old Brown added: "This is the best achievement anyone can ask for."

Brown credited "phenomenal manager" Brendan Rodgers for Celtic's stunning season, and looked back at the Northern Irishman's first game in charge - a shock 1-0 first-leg Champions League qualifying defeat by Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.

"From the start of the season, away to Gibraltar, nobody would've expected this," the Scotland international added. "But it shows how well we prepared and how much dedication we put into the whole season.

"What we've just achieved, I don't think it will sink in for a few days."

The treble was sealed against Aberdeen thanks to a late Tom Rogic goal at Hampden on Saturday.

Jonny Hayes had given an impressive Dons outfit an early lead, before Stuart Armstrong quickly levelled with a fine left-footed strike.

Aberdeen, who also finished second in the Scottish Premiership and runners-up in the League Cup, provided Rodgers' side with possibly their most testing domestic contest of the campaign on Saturday.

And despite their dominance this term, Brown admitted the sense of occasion may have played on the minds of the Celtic players in the first half at Hampden.

"The nerves got to us a little bit in the first half. But we sat down in the dressing room, the gaffer was brilliant, and we went out in the second half and knew what we had to do," he added.

"There's always nerves in big games - and to go through the season undefeated, to win the treble, there's always going to be nerves."

Those worries were gone by the time Rogic netted the late winner, with Celtic having dominated the latter stages of the showpiece.

"Its hard to put into words," said the Australian match-winner. "I don't think it has sunk in yet.

"When we look back on going unbeaten through the season domestically with the amount of games we play, and to clinch the treble like that in the last minute is a pretty cool moment."