James Forrest sets himself an exciting goal after first Celtic league start since January

Add as preferred source on Google

Celtic winger James Forrest has set himself a target of 100 goals for the club after bagging number 97 against Livingston yesterday.

Forrest was in imperious form as he made his first league start for the club since January at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

The veteran Scotland international used the match as an opportunity to stake his claim for more minutes too. Forrest would net on the 55th minute with a brilliant run and finish beyond Max Stryjek that put Celtic 3-0 up at the time.

It’s a strike that leaves him just 3 shy of the 100 mark, and Forrest has admitted that’s now finally in his sights. As quoted by the Scottish Sun, James said: “I’ve had lots of chances but just not been able to take them. Sometimes the harder chances are the ones that go in! The manager always says if the forward players keep getting in the right areas, they will get goals — and I was glad I managed to do that.

“Reaching 100 has always been a target for me. When I scored my last goal, and it seems a while ago now, I said that when you’re playing with such good players you’re always going to get chances. It just comes down to whether I take them or not. I managed to get one today, so hopefully I can keep adding to it.

“Normally it’s afterwards you speak about stuff you’ve done in your career because I know it’s not easy. So I’m not going to say, ‘When I score four goals I’ll be there’. I’m just going to keep working hard to try to add to that and help the team in the coming games.”

James Forrest makes his Celtic intentions clear as he looks to put injury woes behind him

It’s been an exciting year for supporters, but truth be told it’s been a hugely frustrating one for Forrest.

After making an impressive start under Ange back in the summer, he was left cursing his luck as a knee injury kept him out for much of the first half of the season.

This allowed Liel Abada to become the club’s number one right-winger in what’s been a barnstorming season from the Israeli talent. He has both youth and momentum on his side these days, and looks like starting ahead of Forrest in all of our biggest games.

But that’s not to say that James won’t be needed for the title run-in. Far from it. Being only 3 goals from 100 will, for a start, give him something huge personally to work towards. There would be no better occasion for him to make it to 100 goals than if it was a goal that had a hugely positive impact on Celtic’s title hopes.

He’s now put himself into a position where Ange Postecoglou will be viewing him as a viable option. That’s not something we’ve been able to say for much of the season. Forrest needed that yesterday, and his revival couldn’t be coming at a greater time.

Hopefully, it’s just the start of a seismic push from him in the coming weeks. With the 100 mark just around the corner, there’s no reason for him not to be extra motivated.

In other news, Watch: 3 Celtic players and Ange all show their class with fantastic post-match scenes yesterday