Fear of a Celtic exit is driving Forrest on
James Forrest says he is determined not to rest on his laurels – because doing so would be to fast track himself to a seat in the stand.
Stalling on a contract, and seemingly on his way out of Celtic when Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club last summer, the Scotland internationalist stuck around to become a key part of the Northern Irishman’s side.
One whom, his opener in last week’s Betfred League Cup Final reminded fans, is very much one for the big occasion.
“I’ve matched Bobby Lennox now by scoring in three League Cup Finals with my goal against Motherwell last week, which is great,” he said.
“I also have 12 major medals now, and I’m only 26. But you can’t sit and count them.
“At Celtic, when you play in a final, you’ve normally got a game a few days later. So you just win it and move on.
“I’m hungry for more now, more trophies and more success. At a club like Celtic, that’s the way you have to be.
“It’s a massive club, so they’ll always bring in players of different nationalities.
“I’ve been in the first team for seven years and the amount of players who have come and gone is scary.
“If the manager’s not having you, he can change it and bring in his own players.
“You have to be on your game to stay here. That drives me on.
“It will probably only be at the end of my career, I’ll sit down and look back on what I’ve won. At the time, there’s so much going on.
“I know where all my medals are, they’re all in my flat. I’m not one for framing stuff, but it’s great to have so many.
“They’re all different and the most important one is the next. When you win one, you just want the next one.
“When you come through at Celtic the dream is to make your debut. But there’s always a next step here.
“And you never want to stop with what you’ve got. I want to keep going and see where it takes me.”