Linfield holds no fears for Forrest

of it. It won’t worry the boys. You just need to look at last season to see we played well away against Rangers, in Champions League games and against Be’er Sheva.

“It will be weird with no fans there as the fans are so important to us. You see it even in away games in the league.

“There are times when there are more Celtic fans in the ground than home fans. It would be something different, but there is enough character in the squad to cope.

“We’ve played in some different atmospheres before, like Karagandy and Be’er Sheva.

“They were like nothing we’ve experienced before. I think there was talk about sacrificing a goat before the game against Karagandy.

“It was just unlike anything I’d experienced.

“There was a lot of noise and every time they crossed the halfway line they cheered like they’d scored a goal. It was constant for 90 minutes.

“I’d never seen anything like it, but it means you are ready for anything.

“You could say Belfast would be a good tie for us travel-wise and recovery wise. It’s not 40 degrees or on a plastic pitch.

“But if you get through those are the kind of things you might need to face but hopefully we can have our wits about us and get through.”

Forrest added: “It’s hard. You could argue the most important games of the season are right at the start.

“Hopefully we can get in and we can have another season like last year.

“The Champions League was a massive boost for the club last year, for the fans, the players, everyone. There is nothing better than the feeling of getting there.

“Once you are there you can look at doing better. It was a tough draw last year and it was always going to be a big ask.”