Hoops captain Scott Brown and midfielder Charlie Mulgrew were instrumental in Scotland's 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland at Celtic Park on Friday evening.

Mulgrew won the man of the match award while club and country skipper Brown claimed the assist in former Celt Shaun Maloney's winning goal.

Collins now hopes the players, along with the rest of their fellow internationals, come back to Lennoxtown fit and full of confidence ahead of the return to domestic action.

The Scottish Premiership leaders take on Dundee at Celtic Park on Saturday but Brown will be unavailable following his dismissal at Aberdeen two weeks ago.

Collins told the Celtic website: "Some people just think Scott's aggressive and combative. He wins tackles and drives us on, but technically he's very good as well and sometimes doesn't get the credit.

"His set-up for the goal really shows what he is capable of. It's no surprise to me but it showed he had the awareness and time to do it and laid it off to Shaun Maloney perfectly, and his final execution has tucked it away in the corner. So from our point of view it was nice to see Scott involved in the goal.

"It was a great atmosphere and that really came across. I know how wonderful our stadium is but it really had a great atmosphere and I've no doubt that played a big part in driving Scotland forward. It was such an advantage and it was noisy and kept us going."

Collins also hailed playmaker Stefan Johansen after the midfielder was awarded the Norwegian FA's Player of the Year accolade.

He added: "I think Stefan has been working on that. He's been put further forward in the system in recent weeks and has been playing with more responsibility to be up near the attackers and the opposition box to try and get shots and goals.

"He's done that job and is creating chances, scoring goals and that's exactly what we needed to have from him in that position."