Celtic winger James Forrest is eager to remain part of the Bhoys squad and fight hard for a place in the team under Brendan Rodgers despite finding starts limited last season.
The attacker, who is celebrated tonight in a testimonial at Celtic Park, made just five starts in 2022/23, with another 18 appearances coming from the bench.
Forrest would definitely liked to have featured more but now working under a new manager reckons the opportunity is there to impress and get more minutes under his belt this term.
Asked about his future, the winger told Sky Sports: “The majority of my career at Celtic, I’ve always played. But it’s always been difficult. At a club like Celtic, you’re always signing international players and top-quality players so it’s always hard, but at the same time it’s good because it makes you work hard and you need to keep adapting your game. I started five games last season and was coming off the bench but it’s a new manager, it’s a new team so I’m going to keep working hard and hopefully I can add to that.
“He [Rodgers] has not said too much, he doesn’t have to. Knowing him from before, he demands everyone has high standards and that’s what it has been like in pre-season. With the amount of quality players we have I’m going to need to keep going at it every day and hopefully get that chance.
“Last season was one of the first times it’s been like that [not playing much], but I think it’s another challenge and I still really enjoyed last year. I was part of another treble-winning team and obviously, I am getting a bit older as well. I still feel as though when I did play I did contribute, so I’ll just take it as it comes and keep working hard.”
Forrest will be a figure of focus at Celtic this week and is rightly being celebrated as an enormous part of the unprecedented domestic dominance we’ve enjoyed over the last decade-plus. Not only does he get his testimonial but he’ll be the man to unfurl the league flag on Saturday against Ross County.
There’ll be no sentiment beyond that however, he’ll have to earn his keep within this ruthless squad and Rodgers isn’t just going to hand him minutes if others in the team are showing more in training. Thankfully Forrest relishes that challenge.
He clearly isn’t thinking about moving on elsewhere and is happy to play a squad role if that’s what it comes to. A player of Forrest’s quality and experience in a back-up role isn’t the worst thing to have in the world by any means.
In other news, Late ticket sale surge promises special Celtic Park night for James Forrest Testimonial.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
