NOWWING&A PRAYERJAMES
JOHN KENNEDY has not given up hope on unleashing James Forrest at Ibrox as he vowed to send out Celtic all guns blazing in their Scottish Cup showdown.
The winger is battling to be fit for Sunday’s crunch last-16 clash with Rangers after limping off in last weekend’s 6-0 lashing of Livingston at home.
Kennedy will give the Scotland star right up until kick-off but is drawing up an attacking game plan to go after the champions.
The interim boss said: “We’re going to monitor James as the week goes on. He’s the type of player we’ll give right to the last minute.
“We’ll get the treatment in and see how it goes.
“The performance will bring the result. You need a real mental resilience and drive to deal with the pressure of the game.
“That’s fine but you need to have a framework there. They can have comfort in knowing how they can approach it, how they’ve had success in previous games. The little issues we’ve had, we know how to address them.
“It’s about going in with that belief to carry out the game plan. Within that, the individual quality might come through.
“But you need to be solid and organised. We have to be on the front foot and aggressive because that’s when we are at our best.”
Kennedy insists Celtic are flying again going into Sunday after finding their shooting boots.
He told Celtic TV: “We’ve been creating chances but the most difficult thing can be putting the ball in the net. It’s great to have that belief and confidence in the bank going into the Rangers game.”