Ange delivers the latest on James Forrest’s Celtic return; it sounds good

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Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed James Forrest will return to full team training as early as Monday.

Forrest has been out of action for over two months. He picked up an injury following a disrupted pre-season, which has required extensive rehabilitation.

However, he is truly closing in on a return now, with the Bhoys boss delivering a promising update on his status today.

While he won’t feature against St Johnstone and is unlikely to face Hibernian next mid-week, his return to full contact training will make it a matter of time before he is back in a Celtic shirt.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou said [YouTube]: “He’s working really hard. He’s had a really disrupted time since pre-season onwards. It’s been really challenging for him.

“It’s always hard when players are in that rehab mode and they’re on their own. But the medical team and rehab staff are working really hard with him and have made really good progress in the last 10 days.

“Without putting too many specific targets on him, our hope is that he will train with the team on Monday. That’ll be a major step forward for him because hasn’t been able to train with the group for quite a while.

“If we get him into training with the group on Monday it’ll be a case of seeing when he is ready to play. But it’s the most promising news we’ve had on him for quite a while.”

Forrest can be a devastating attacker for Celtic when on top form, so it’s crucial he gets up to speed as soon as possible.

With Liel Abada dropping off in recent matches, having more competition on that right flank will be a big boost for Ange Postecoglou.

The manager has already shown willingness to use Forrest as a priority player, handing him a number of starts in the early stages of the season.

Hopefully there are no setbacks and the winger can get back to impressing at Lennoxtown over the next few days.

In other news, Celtic star Joe Hart delivers perfect response to journalist’s title race question.