James McFadden speaks the truth about James Forrest after Celtic’s defeat to St Johnstone

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It’s great to see James Forrest back in action for Celtic after a few months on the sidelines.

The Celtic legend returned last week during the win over Hearts and earned further minutes against St Johnstone on Sunday.

Unfortunately, Celtic were beaten by St Johnstone, and the Premiership title party was put on hold even further, as the champions-elect didn’t even capitalise on Barry Ferguson’s Rangers slipping up again.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	32	25	3	4	92	21	71	78
2	RangersRangers	32	20	5	7	66	33	33	65
3	HibernianHibernian	32	13	11	8	50	41	9	50
4	AberdeenAberdeen	32	14	7	11	43	47	-4	49

It was more dropped points on the road from Celtic, and there were many worrying performances across the board.

Nicolas Kuhn is coming under fire, and his half-time substitution is proof that he just isn’t at it and has been off it for months and months now.

But, amid that negativity, James McFadden wanted to rightfully give his flowers to Forrest.

• READ MORE: What James Forrest said about a Celtic goal vs Rangers ‘that sticks out’ will bring a smile to fans’ faces

James Forrest lauded for cameo appearances despite Celtic’s defeat to St Johnstone

Forrest didn’t replace Kuhn during the game; that was Hyunjun Yang, but he did come on for Jota after 76 minutes.

You could argue that, during the small time he was on the pitch, the 33-year-old fared much better than Kuhn did during the opening 45 minutes.

McFadden felt that Forrest had two chances to score – and should have done so – as he rightfully lauded the winger for his display, as he told Sky Sports Football (06/04/25 at 2:20 pm).

“As soon as he came on, I thought the exact same (that Forrest loves a goal against St Johnstone),” said McFadden.

“He hasn’t scored yet this season. But he should really score. It’s one of those where the ball gets played across, and it is a nice pass, ready for him to step on, and sometimes you say, ‘just concentrate on your contact and make sure you hit the target’.

“But he will be disappointed. He is trying to slot that into the near post, and I think it’s come off his heel. I thought James Forrest looked really bright when he came on. And it’s no surprise.

“Over the years, when he first came into the Celtic team, the first thing you noticed was the pace, but his actual play is excellent. Celtic had their chances. I felt they were very good in the second half. I thought Rodgers got the reaction he was looking for.”

Forrest’s stats for Celtic against St Johnstone

It remains to be seen where Forrest is, in terms of his fitness, but he should now be in contention to start games, given the troubles out wide.

Kuhn simply can’t start more matches because his performances, for months and months now, aren’t deserving of it.

Either way, from the 20-odd minutes Forrest was on the pitch, he impressed and, hopefully, that first goal of the campaign is around the corner because he deserves it, as WhoScored rated his performance just under seven.