Forrest sets sights on joining brother James at top

JAMES FORREST is one of the most successful Celtic players of the modern era but just 37 miles down the road at Ayr United, his little brother Alan is busy carving out his own career path to the top. With over 200 games for the Somerset Park side by the age of 23 and one league title win, he is certainly making his mark. Alan may not — yet — be at the level of his elder sibling but his dribbling and clinical finishing is similar to James’ trademark style and Ayr fans jokingly sing that he’s ‘better’ than his brother. Alan netted another two goals for Ayr in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Arbroath to make it five goals in three games and go some way towards helping the United crowd forget about the misery of losing manager Ian McCall to Partick Thistle. Now he is aiming for the top with ambitions to get to the level that his brother has performed at for almost a decade. ‘Did I hear the fans singing about me and James?’ said Forrest. ‘Yes, I’ve heard that song for a while. It’s good to hear! ‘James has had a really good career so far and I’m really proud of him. It’s my aim to get up there, too. ‘He’s done a lot at Celtic — scored lots of goals and made plenty of appearances. My aim is to try and be as good as that. ‘I’m delighted with how it’s going at the moment. I got two goals last week and another two this week and the team played really well again. ‘It was really important after the manager left to get off to the right start and we did that. ‘It was a bit flat for the first day or two after Ian McCall left. It was always going to be that way because he was at the club for so long. ‘The manager did really well for us and we are grateful for that but we have a great squad and know that we can keep it going without him.’ Ayr showed no signs of a hangover over the departure of McCall as they swept Arbroath aside with a first-half blitz. Forrest put the visitors ahead in 19 minutes as he collected a Luke McCowan pass before firing high into the top corner of the net from 15 yards. It was a sublime finish and he showed his poacher’s instinct moments later as he pounced on a Darren Jamieson error to slide home from close range. Stephen Kelly’s 20-yard strike clinched the win for Ayr, who remain joint top, but sit behind Dundee United on goal difference.