HAMILTON V CELTIC
Rodgers has no plans to chop and change
HAMILTON ACCIES striker James Keatings says Scotland boss Alex McLeish has Brendan Rodgers to thank for James Forrest’s emergence as the saviour of the national team.
Accies frontman Keatings started his career at Celtic and spent a decade in the same youth teams as Forrest (right).
It was always clear to him that Forrest would go on to become a star, but Keatings believes it was the arrival of Rodgers at Parkhead that has ensured Forrest is now maximising his potential.
McLeish will be grateful for that after watching the 27-year-old explode into life for the national team, firing five goals in two games against Albania and Israel to propel Scotland to the Nations League play-offs. Keatings, who will come up against his old academy friend when Accies host the champions today, said: “As we saw at Hampden, James is on a hot vein of form with his hat-trick. “I was with Jamesy for 10 years while I was coming through at Celtic. I saw him make his way up through the youth teams and he was already a great player then.
“As a young lad, his pace was his biggest attribute but he’s added so much to his game since then. His final delivery, his goals, his movement.
“He has improved a lot under Brendan Rodgers and has taken his game to the next level.
“He’s still at Celtic and has gone up through the levels. He is showing now how good a player he is.
“It’s taken him a long time to get his first Scotland goal but that’s just one of those things. You’re always looking for your first goal and can sometimes put pressure on yourself to get it.”
Forrest has been flying for Scotland but Keatings is now hoping the winger and the rest of the Hoops line-up come crashing down on the plastic Hope CBD Stadium.
Rodgers’ team have not had much luck on artificial surfaces this season. They lost 2-1 at Kilmarnock in September and were held to a 0-0 draw at Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena before the international break.
Keatings added: “We’ve seen over the last few weeks that Celtic are moving the ball freely and scoring goals.
“It’s up to us to implement our game plan and try to stop them. We’re on the Astro again and we saw they struggled a bit against Livingston to get their game going.
“Can the pitch slow them down? I hope so. It’s different and we have got to use the pitch to our advantage.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton have announced the signing of former World Cup goalkeeper Jan Mucha on a short-term deal. The former Everton player has 46 caps for Slovakia and played in four World Cup Finals matches in 2010. The 35-year-old was most recently with Nieciecza in Poland before moving to Scotland.