STUART ARMSTRONG paid tribute to James Forrest for his pulverising performance against Bayern Munich at Parkhead on Tuesday.
The winger stepped into the spotlight against the Bundesliga giants and revelled in the special atmosphere generated by 60,000 fans in the east end of Glasgow.
Forrest, 26, was also applauded by manager Brendan Rodgers and the winger is likely to get a run in the first team with Paddy Roberts sidelined with a hamstring problem.
Armstrong insisted: “Jamesy is a quality player and we get to see that every day in training. He showed against Bayern what a top-quality player he is when he takes it to the next level.
“Sometimes injuries give opportunities to other players and Jamesy has certainly taken that in his stride. I’m really pleased for him.
“He was absolutely terrific. His link-up play, his balls into the box, his through ball to Callum McGregor for the goal was outstanding.
“Just with his overall play, he was a threat. He was a fantastic asset for us during the game.
“It’s been tough for him, with a lot of competition for places. He’s been out of the side at times, but he showed in front of a full Celtic Park and against top-quality opposition that he’s one of our best.”
Armstrong was on the receiving end of a splendid pass from Forrest in the fifth minute that should have seen the Hoops take the lead.
The midfield playmaker added: “It was a beautiful ball from Jamesy and I’ve watched it for what felt like an age.
“I felt the defender was going to get a little nick on it, which put me off slightly. But I was very disappointed not to take that chance so early in the game.
“I came close with another one in the second-half, as well. It’s always an aim of mine to get on the scoresheet every single game and I had a very good chance against Bayern.
“It was just one of those things. It was a great counter-attack and I’ve run a long way to get there. Usually, you’d just like to stroke it into the back of the net, but it just didn’t happen for me.
”Of course, we were all very disappointed at the end, which speaks volumes for the performance. Compared to the away game against Bayern, it was night and day.
“Everyone who was at Celtic Park on Tuesday night could see we were more aggressive, taking more opportunities to go forward and creating more chances.
“Overall, we kept better possession. We had a bit more confidence to play our own game and not respect Bayern too much.
“There were certainly a lot of positives for us, going forward and controlling the game against one of the very best teams in Europe.
“Our aspiration is to be in the Europa League after Christmas and, hopefully, we can do that.”
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