Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THEAYR TO THE THRONE
Forrest hoping for a double celebration with brother Alan
CELTIC have invited the noisy neighbours around for a possible Premiership title party this weekend.
But it’s the residents next to the Forrest family home in Prestwick who might be needing the earplugs come bedtime on Sunday night.
Hoops attacker James is hoping to be celebrating seven in a row against Rangers a few hours before he’s up for the PFA Player of the Year award along with team-mate Scott Brown, Kilmarnock’s Kris Boyd and
Hibs ace John Mcginn.
But brother Alan (right) could also be popping the champers if his Ayr side can recover from their end-of-season wobble and edge out Raith
Rovers to earn promotion to the Championship to set up an epic family bash.
Forrest said: “It would be good if Ayr can do it. If not they might have the play-offs and it would be great for him to get back into the Championship.
“My dad has been saying for the last few weeks about how unusual it would be for both of us to win titles but Ayr have lost their last two games and it is out of their hands now.
“He has had a good season though and I hope they get promoted. It could be some day.”
Forrest is delighted his kid brother is doing the business with the Honest Men but he’s hoping to square up some of the sibling rivalry with a goal against Rangers.
It’s the one thing missing from the Hoops ace’s impressive goal CV – while Alan has managed to hit the net against the Ibrox men with both Raith and Ayr.
Forrest said: “He has done really well when he has played against them.
“Hopefully I can contribute and help the team. I am feeling good and helping the team to beat Rangers would be up there.
“My brother has mentioned it a few times before but it is just a bit of banter. Once the game starts I just focus on the team and try to make sure we get the victory.”
A super Sunday would cap a sensational season for the attacker. It has been some turnaround for a player who was halfway out the Parkhead door two years ago with his contract running down and game time limited.
Now he’s one of Brendan Rodgers’s main men and also thinking about becoming a Celt for life.
Forrest said: “Nowadays it’s less common for players to stay with the same club for their whole career but I know how big a club Celtic is.
“You’re competing for league titles and cups and trying to get into the Champions League every single year and there’s nothing better for any player.
“But you need to keep at it because Celtic don’t stand still – they spend money and everyone is replaceable but I want to be here for as long as I possibly can.”
The
Dons boss accepts neither his side nor other runner-up contenders Rangers and Hibs have been good enough over the campaign to challenge Celtic.
But he is bristling with confidence they can achieve their target having recovered from the misery of losing the Scottish Cup semi-final to Motherwell a fortnight ago.
Mcinnes said: “We are all capable of beating good teams. We’ve shown that over the course of the season but none of the three of us have been quite good enough to challenge Celtic properly for the title.
“But I always felt there was not a lot in it between us, Rangers and Hibs.
“I also felt Hearts might have made a better fist of it this season and been up there. But ourselves, Rangers and Hibs all winning last week allowed the excitement to build for the next round of games.
“I think it will take us winning at least three of our last four games for us to finish second.maybe even more, you never know.”
Mcinnes admits he enjoys the cut and thrust of the post-split fixtures which he says adds spice to the end of the campaign, especially in the fight to avoid the drop.
He said: “The split is a brilliant thing once you get your head round it. It has been 100% great addition to our league.”