Mo owes thanks to Celts’ ‘clown’
Mohammed Elyounoussi has revealed that Fraser Forster has quickly become the joker in the Celtic dressing room.
The two men were squad-mates at Southampton last season before both heading north to Celtic Park on season-long loans.
And Elyounoussi reports that both are happy with life in the Scottish top-flight.
“Fraser is a really good guy. We were in the same dressing room at Southampton, and I talked to him a lot,” said the 25-year-old Moroccanborn Norwegian.
“In the end, we were in the same situation where we were not getting regular games.
“Everyone feels strange if they don’t play. Everyone thinks they’re good enough to play. But in the end, it’s up to the manager and there’s nothing you can do.
“I had it myself last year. I thought I was good enough to play, but this is how it is. Football can be tough sometimes.
“Obviously, if you go from that situation to playing, you will feel better.
“But Fraser’s still the same guy. He was quite positive at Southampton.
“I would say he was kind of a clown. He talked a lot and made a few jokes. He’s still the same guy here.
“He also took care of me when I came to Celtic, because, of course, he had been here before.
“We were staying in the same hotel and he drove me to the training ground.”
Now that Forster is playing regularly in both domestic and European football, the winger sees no reason why he should not come back into contention for England.
“Fraser is a quality keeper,” said Elyounoussi.
“I lost count of the number of times we were the last ones after training, me doing shooting and him in goals. So I know how good he is.
“I think he was the best keeper at Southampton. He’s amazing when he’s at the top of his game.
“Hopefully for his sake, he can get that positive energy back and get back to where he was.”
Elyounoussi himself is hoping to replicate the form he showed against Cluj when Lazio visit Celtic Park on Thursday.
“I try to play my best in every game and help the team. I like to create chances or score myself and to get a goal that night was special,” said Elyounoussi, who hit a double against Ross County yesterday.
“It was a great moment for me. It had been a while since I scored. It was amazing to score in front of 60,000 people.
“You would struggle to find a better atmosphere than the one at Celtic Park on a European night. We have to use that.
“It is tough to play against Celtic, I know that from personal experience. So we need to try to use the fans against Lazio.”