James Forrest injury latest ahead of Celtic Scottish Cup derby

By John McGinley

April 15, 2021

Celtic interim boss John Kennedy is giving little away on James Forrest’s injury status ahead of this weekend’s match against Rangers.

Forrest walked out of Saturday’s fixture at home to Livingston with back, hip and hamstring stiffness.

Kennedy said after the game it was a precaution but clearly everyone is concerned he might miss out on Sunday’s huge derby.

Speaking to Celtic TV today, the caretaker manager said: “We’re just going to monitor James as the week progresses.

“He’s the type of player we’ll give right until the last minute.

“We’ll see how he goes in the week, we’ll get treatment into him and progress that as best we can and make a decision nearer the game.”

Forrest is absolutely crucial to the tactical considerations of the fixture, so I doubt Kennedy will be providing a definitive public verdict ahead of the Ibrox trip.

If he doesn’t make the match, reverting to a central diamond seems likely. Should he be fit, a continuation of the weekend’s 4-2-3-1 formation is on the cards.

I’m pretty confident Celtic will know which way the wind is blowing on that and are preparing accordingly.

It makes little sense to clue the Rangers camp into how we’ll play in the build-up.

James Forrest celebrates scoring for Celtic / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Still, fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that the Scotland international will make it. With goals against Falkirk and Livingston already since his return from a six-month lay-off, he’s clearly intent on making up for lost time.

Kennedy doesn’t have any other injury considerations ahead of the Ibrox trip that we know of, so it’ll be a strong eleven with or without the long-serving winger.

In other news, Celtic star makes FUT21 team of the week alongside Paul Pogba and Alexandre Lacazette.