SCOTT BROWN admitted he would have backed James Forrest to take Celtic’s penalty-kick against St Mirren.
The winger was involved in a bizarre tussle for the ball with John Guidetti when the Hoops were awarded a spot-kick in last month’s League Cup Final.
Forrest fought off the Swede – and promptly missed the award with a powderpuff effort which was pushed away by relieved keeper Rado Cierzniak.
Ronny Deila’s side still won 2-0 – with Forrest claiming the second goal – but the Norwegian boss was fuming at the unruly spectacle between two of his players.
Amazingly, the Scotland international was up for volunteering for the penalty-kick in Paisley after Viktor Genev was adjudged to have handled his shot in the 74th minute with the SPFL champions already a goal to the good from Forrest.
He admitted: “Yes, I wanted to take the kick, but I know there are other boys in line now and I was happy to give the ball to Stefan Johansen.”
The Norwegian midfielder expertly tucked the ball behind Mark Ridgers, but skipper Brown revealed: “I would have let James take it all day long.
“I’ve got every faith in him. In fact, it’s great to have the Wee Man back in the team after he was out for such a long time through injury.
“He’s added a bit of pace and we could have got more goals against St Mirren.
“The title’s getting closer, but we’ve got a lot of games to go and we need more performances like this one.”
Forrest added: “The boys dug deep for this victory and, obviously, getting the three points was the most important thing.
“I’m feeling good and I want to kick on with two months of the season still to go.”
On the spot-kick incident, Deila commented with a smile: “I’m glad Stefan took it.”
Leigh Griffiths and Anthony Stokes have also failed to convert from the spot this season.
It now looks as though the penalty-taking duties will be between Johansen and Kris Commons if the Hoops get another award this term.
