Celtic's Jack Aitchison's goal praised by Forest Green manager

By David Walton

October 23, 2019

Celtic loan star Jack Aitchison has been praised by Forest Green Rovers boss Mark Cooper after securing his third goal for the club.

Aitchison’s impressive week continued last night at Morecambe. After firing home a fine effort in against Mansfield on Saturday, Aitchison made it two in two with a fine finish to put Forest Green 1-0 ahead with 15 minutes to go last night.

The score ended in a 2-0 success for the visitors. It’s a victory that moves Forest Green up to third in League Two. However, more pertinently for Celtic fans, Aitchison’s mini-streak of goals continues.

Jack Aitchison fine form continued last night (Vagelis Georgariou/Action Plus via Getty Images)

The finish last night wasn’t as clean as the strike on Saturday. However, Aitchison showed tremendous footwork to create some space for himself in the penalty area. His effort then took a deflection before trundling into the bottom-corner. You can view it for yourself here.

It was enough for Forest Green boss Cooper to give Aitchison some praise. And, in comments published by Gloucestershire Live, Cooper had this to say:

“It was a great move.

“It was a fantastic ball from Joe Mills; he shaped up as if he was going to smash it across goal but he played a fantastic reverse pass and Jack’s sent the lad for a packet of crisps and gone to put it in the other corner and it’s got a deflection.”

Aitchison finding a new gear at Forest Green

Whilst his exposure to first-team football was key, it’s clear that Aitchison is now finding his feet in League Two and is now stepping things up a gear.

Aitchison made it two in two last night (Lukasz Sobala/PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)

He’s now bagged two goals in the space of a week. Therefore, he’s effectively trebled his tally after previously only bagging one goal in his first couple of months at the club.

Celtic could do with Aitchison having an injury-free campaign. But it’s also important not to get carried away with his progress.

Just because Aitchison seems to finally be tearing things up in League Two, it doesn’t mean he’s Celtic class as of yet. For example, Celtic fans would hardly be interested in any other potential signing from League Two.

Mark Cooper continues to be full of praise for Aitchison (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

But what this represents for us is progress. It’s something for Aitchison to build on. We’re now at a stage in his career where he’s experiencing something fresh. Senior football is something the striker didn’t have enough experience in.

When he returns in the summer, hopefully he’ll be ready for a step-up in class. But for now, Aitchison continues to go from strength to strength with Forest Green.