'I’ve always felt I could contribute and help the team,' James Forrest

Forrest was of course a main cog for the Irishman during his initial tenure in the Parkhead hot seat and now he’s looking to help the man who got the best out of him this term. Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma are not without their gifts, but neither men are capable of performing to the level consistently that Jamesy has this past decade or so in a Celtic jersey.

It’s meant that he’s had to step back into the starting line-up lately and hasn’t failed to show his class. His goal against Aberdeen at Hampden Park was a trademark Forrest strike which got us ahead in our Scottish Cup Semi-final a couple of weeks back against Aberdeen. Then he was at it again yesterday with a double against Tony Docherty’s Dundee side at Dens Park.

One of those goals was one for the clips and Forrest has admitted he’s hoping he can help the team over the line in these next few weeks. Speaking after the match to Celtic TV, he said: “The first goal today was a good goal and I was glad I contributed and helped the team and we got the three points, which is the most important thing. We started well and had a few different combinations, especially down my side, and we got in a couple of times and maybe just our final pass wasn’t there. But once we got the goal, we settled into it.”

Although James has been used sparingly this year and his powers have diminished somewhat, he’s always held the belief that he is capable of coming into this Celtic team and make an impact. On being out of the team and squad sometimes this campaign, he revealed: “It was difficult and I think there was a wee spell in January-February when I wasn’t in squad. But you just need to keep working hard and keep training because in football anything can happen and it can change pretty quickly from game to game.

“So you need to keep yourself on top of it in case you do get a chance. I’ve managed to do that and the last six weeks have been good. I’ve been back in the squad and contributing to the team and hopefully I can do that with the remaining games of the season. If I look at my Celtic career, ninety percent of that, and maybe more, has been so positive and there have been so many great memories and I’ve always felt this season that I could still contribute and still help the team. So it’s been great coming here, getting the three points and scoring a couple of goals and I’m just looking forward to the next couple of games and I want to keep doing more.”