Doctors want him to rest in America between treatments, but he says he wants to jet back for games. The medics will have a fight on their hands trying to stop him.”

This week Celtic confirmed that Burns was facing his second fight against cancer after the disease returned to his stomach.

He had surgery to remove lumps from his groin and thigh in April 2006 after being diagnosed with skin cancer.

A skin specialist advised the removal of a freckle on Burns’s thigh which had been causing him discomfort. 

He said: “It started to get a bit itchy. I was told it was a melanoma and I went into surgery there and then and it was removed. I went back to see him a week later and I was told it was malignant.”

The father-of-four, from Newton Mearns, Glasgow, said: “Men don’t really examine their moles and marks, especially in the west of Scotland.” 

It is understood that he had to have an ulcer removed from his stomach so he could begin a course of radiotherapy.

The source added: “As soon as the clinic in America confirms Tommy’s appointment he will be off.”

This week big-hearted Celtic fans set up a Get Well website for Burns. 

Tommy had praised fans of Celtic’s Ibrox rivals for helping him through his first scare. 

He said at the time: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness from both sides of the Old Firm divide.”