Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Forrest: Celtic must be strong
JAMES Forrest has stressed the importance of Celtic’s Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Hamilton tonight.
The Hoops winger enjoyed a “good week” with Scotland after wins against Lithuania away and Malta at Hampden Park breathed life into their 2018 World Cup qualification hopes.
Forrest and the five other Celtic players i n Gordon Strachan’s squad — and the rest of the internationals at t h e Pa r k h e a d cl u b — returned to Glasgow where the attention is beginning to turn towards their Champions League campaign which begins with a home game against free-spending Paris St Germain next Tuesday.
However, amid all the excitement there, first comes a l ess glamorous trek to the SuperSeal Stadium where Celtic will aim to bounce back from their last league outing, which saw them drop two points in a 1-1 home draw with St Johnstone, albeit the treble winners remain unbeaten domestically since May 2016.
Asked about the Accies game during a Lennoxtown press conference where the World Cup and Champions League dominated, Forrest said: “It is maybe the most important game because you need to make sure you win the league and win league games to get that opportunity to play in the Champions League.
“We know we need to be strong, we need to be at it for the league games and if you are not, as you saw in the last game we drew at home to St Johnstone.
“So we need to be at it and be ready for the league games as well.”