FORREST HAILS THE DEM-BUSTER
JAMES FORREST says there is even more to come from Celtic despite the Hoops continuing their march towards a domestic Treble with a comprehensive thumping of Inverness at the weekend.
The Hoops winger, like the rest of his teammates, was in scintillating form as they put six goals past the hapless Highlanders to move into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
He believes he is in the best form of his career at present, but he is determined to work even harder to make sure he continues to improve.
And even as Brendan Rodgers’ men clocked up their 30th consecutive domestic game without defeat, Forrest sounded a warning to the rest of Scottish football – you haven’t seen anything yet.
“[The manager] keeps on getting after us every day to keep pushing on and getting better,” Forrest said.
“That is good to have from a manager. I think that is a real positive. He was talking about that the other day as well. He has
sat down and chatted with all of us at different stages throughout the season. It has been really good. From day one we have just felt a good vibe.
“He brings real positivity. He makes you want to work and he makes you want to get better.
He said it himself on day one: ‘If no one wanted to get better then he would show them the door. It’s a credit to all the boys – even the ones that haven’t played and come in – that everybody has been working hard. You can see that in the performances that they have been putting in.
“The confidence throughout the team, not just for myself, is really high j ust now. The supporters are behind us and the confidence is really high. I would definitely say this is the best I’ve felt. Before training I’m doing a bit more in the gym and heading in there after as well.
“You just need to put in 110 per cent in training like all the boys do. It’s paying off when we’re going into games.”
Forrest ran the Inverness defence ragged at the weekend, playing a part in four of Celtic’s six goals and claiming assists for three of those. Not bad for a player often criticised for his lack of an end-product.
The only negative for him was that he failed to get on the scoresheet himself, but even missing a gilt-edged opportunity couldn’t put a dampener on a fine afternoon’s work.
“It was sitting up perfectly but that’s one of those things,” he laughed. “It was good that I pressed the boy and that I got i n and made the chance. I just know that, the next time, I have to try and score it.
“It was good to get assists. Maybe I should have scored a couple as well but I’m just delighted to provide the assists and for us to score a lot of goals, have a clean sheet, and get through to the next round.”