An ability to make everyone feel important singled Tommy Burns out as a "special man", according to Celtic captain Stephen McManus.McManus revealed he and his team-mates were left "very numb" after it was announced the 51-year-old lost his battle against cancer early on Thursday morning.

Like Burns, the 26-year-old came through the ranks at Celtic Park to establish himself as a key player.

And Burns proved an inspiration in his roles as youth development boss and then first-team coach.

"He just made you feel you were very important," the Scotland defender said.

"I had been here a couple of years when Tommy came back and I was probably a tadpole in the ocean. But Tommy made me feel the most important person in the world.

"It's only special men that make someone feel like that.

"People have spoken about Neil Lennon coming back and how great it has been, but for us the biggest plus has been having Tommy with the first team every day."

Burns suffered a relapse in his fight against skin cancer, which he had first fought off in 2006.

Celtic announced in March he was undergoing treatment but McManus failed to notice any difference in his upbeat character.

"A few of the lads have known for some time he has not been keeping too well and then he would bounce into the training ground as if everything was fine," McManus added.

"That showed you what he was like as a man - he was willing to fight on. He made sure that nobody felt sorry for him.

"He was probably as brave a man as you will ever meet.

"He will be badly missed by every one of us, not just as a coach, but as a person.

"It was a pleasure to have known him for eight years. You can't help but love him to bits."

The former Kilmarnock, Celtic and Reading manager's sense of humour is spoken of fondly by those who knew him and it made life more enjoyable for McManus and his team-mates.

"I remember the first time I was away with Scotland," McManus said. "I wouldn't say I was worried but you don't know how Walter Smith and Ally McCoist are going to be with you.

"As soon as I walked off the bus it was Tommy giving me stick. It makes you feel so much better."

The Celtic centre-back added: "There were laughs every day and 90 per cent of the time it was because of something Tommy said or did. It was a pleasure to know him.

"He's a one-off, there's never going to be another Tommy Burns.

"I remember one night before we played Kilmarnock in the cup, staying at Lochgreen, Tommy had five or six of us up to midnight telling stories from about nine o'clock.

"I don't think anyone got a word in. We were literally rolling about the floor in hysterics.

"No matter how much he was suffering, he was always trying to make everyone else feel better."

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