Forrest stunned by Celts’ collapse as rampaging Salzburg trample all over them with second-half triple whammy

JAMES FORREST admits Celtic were blown away by second-half shock and awe from Red Bull Salzburg.

The Hoops winger’s night of misery was compounded by a late red card as he conceded a penalty that sealed the painful 3-1 Europa League loss in Austria.

A triple whammy after the break made Odsonne Edouard’s opener ancient history as Brendan Rodgers and his players racked up another dismal result on their European travels.

But Forrest insists it left them with a sense of what might have been and a feeling of bemusement that a tie which was within their control suffered an implosion of astonishing proportions.

He said: “There is a sense of shock and awe as I felt we were competitive and then it’s three quick goals and we’ve lost 3-1.

“I think that’s harsh. They made the most of their half chances and when they do that then they show what happens at this level.

“It’s a lesson for us against teams of Salzburg’s level.” Forrest admits the calibre of the Austrian champions should be taken into context as a record of 13 away games in the Europa League group BY GORDON PARKS IN AUSTRIA stage without a win is assessed and he believes Celtic paid the price for sitting too deep after the interval.

He said: “We know they are a good side and they showed that by getting to the semi-final last season.

“At half-time all the boys were confident, it just got away from us during the second half.

“Maybe we went on the defensive too much as going on the front foot can sometimes be better. We let things slip a bit and we were punished.”

The 27-year-old is now banned for the trip to face German cracks RB Leipzig in a fortnight.

But he’s adamant it’s a journey that can deliver a rare success and spur them on for the remainder of their Group B qualification challenge.

Forrest said: “We are going to get difficult games at home as well but we need to start to nicking points away from home too.

“Rosenborg away will be hard as will the trip to Germany against Leipzig but we know we can go there and be positive and get a result.

“We needed that bit of luck against Salzburg and maybe if we’d scored with one or two of the half chances we created then it would make the difference.

“It can be the difference between winning and losing. Things like that change things. We were confident and then they came out and scored two quick goals.

“We now have two more away games in the group and we need to give our all in them.

“If we were to get that win then it would be great for everyone, it would allow us to kick on from there.”

Celtic handed themselves the dream start as Edouard fired them into a second-minute lead.

And Forrest admits going into the break with an advantage offered hope of a positive ending that was to be shattered within minutes of the restart.

He said: “It’s very disappointing because we started well and got the early goal, which was the perfect start.

“But the way we have conceded