Hoops ready to go again after winter break, claims Forrest

Celtic are refreshed and raring to go again claimed James Forrest after the Hoops returned from a three-week winter break to dismiss Brechin City in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

The cup holders had enjoyed some warm weather training in Dubai but Parkhead was freezing on Saturday when the Scotland winger opened the scoring with a guided shot from a Scott Sinclair cut-back after two minutes and with the visitors still to touch the ball.

Looking ahead to the Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Partick Thistle in Maryhill tomorrow, where Brendan Rodgers’ league leaders will look to go 11 points clear of Aberdeen, Forrest stressed the importance of the break both mentally and physically.

He said: “It was a great start for us coming back, scoring five goals, getting a clean sheet and most important thing going into the next round.”

“Personally, it was good to score so early. We kept the ball from kick-off and I scored with one of my first touches.

“It was ideal for the team to get going that early in the game.

“The break was good after a lot of games.

“It was really beneficial and being mentally refreshed is a big part of it.

“Every three days we’d have a big game and that’s hard.

“We’ve had a break then had some hard training in the last couple of weeks so we were raring to go and it was a good game to come back to.

“We’re back and ready for the remainder of the season.

“The league starts again on Tuesday and we want to start positively.”

Rodgers was happy with the win over Darren Dods’ men – and despite fielding a strong line-up still wants additions to his squad before the transfer window closes next midweek.

“It’s about getting the right type of quality in,” he said.

James Forrest’s goal against City was his 13th of the season.