Scott Brown believes Celtic are now feeling the absence of Arne Engels in midfield – and claims the Belgian’s quality could have made the difference in their Champions League collapse.
Engels completed his move from Celtic to West Ham earlier this month after being registered for the Hoops’ Champions League qualifying campaign.
Celtic had time to bring in a replacement before facing LASK but failed to do so, leaving Martin O’Neill without a replacement for the midfielder.
The Hoops eventually travelled to Austria with a four-goal aggregate advantage, only to suffer an extraordinary 5-1 defeat after extra time and drop into the Europa League.
And with Celtic now in the final days of the transfer window without replacing Engels, Brown believes his absence has become increasingly obvious.
The former Celtic captain feels the Hoops are missing the Belgian’s ability to cover ground and contribute at both ends of the pitch – qualities which are particularly important in European football.
Speaking on Sportscene, Brown said: “I think when you go into Europe, you need Engels’ running power, it’s going to be hugely missed.
“A lot of people underestimated how good he is box-to-box and maybe people didn’t see the quality of that, but now you’re starting to see it in big games.
“Big games, big players and that’s what he was. I think they need another midfielder in there.”
Celtic’s midfield problems were compounded during the Champions League qualifiers when the club discovered Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was suspended.
That left O’Neill with fewer options in the middle of the park and forced him to rely on players such as Luke McCowan during a crucial European tie.
The failure to replace Engels before the LASK matches is now likely to be viewed with even greater frustration following the collapse in Austria.
Celtic had a commanding advantage but were unable to withstand LASK’s pressure as the Austrian side completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in the club’s European history.
Whether Engels’ presence would have changed the outcome is impossible to know.
But Brown believes Celtic are now seeing exactly what they lost when the midfielder left Parkhead.
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