FORMER Celtic keeper Rab Douglas believes Neil Lennon will be looking for a new Hoops No.1.
And the ex-Scotland international shotstopper insists Fraser Forster is the obvious target for the Parkhead gaffer.
The 6ft 6in goalie has slipped down the pecking order at Southampton after joining from the Bhoys in a £10million deal in 2014.
The south-coast outfit spent £13.5million on 23-year-old Angus Gunn when they brought him in from Manchester City last year and they also have Alex McCarthy on stand-by.
Thirty-one-year-old Forster played only one Premier League game in the last campaign and is obviously surplus to requirements at the Saints.
Douglas reckons his old team-mate Lennon will not have been impressed by Scott Bain, who has conceded six goals in his last two games, four against Cluj on Tuesday and two versus Motherwell on Saturday.
Craig Gordon is ready to return to the side for Saturday’s League Cup-tie against Dunfermlline at Parkhead, but Douglas reckons the champions need a long-term fix.
The ex-Hoops goalie, speaking to the Dundee Courier, said: “Neil will be asking himself if he needs another goalkeeper and I think the answer will be ‘yes’ to that.
“We all know what Scott Bain can do by now. He has done relatively well since Brendan Rodgers gave him his chance, but he is more suited to the passing it out from the back style Brendan liked than Neil’s way of playing.
“I don’t think Neil will be looking in Scotland for a new goalie. He’ll be looking down south.
“Fraser Forster is the obvious one.
“He was brilliant in his first spell at Celtic Park and went for big money, but I don’t think he’s even Southampton’s number two these days.
“If Fraser is like me, he’d want to get out and play again rather than count his money sitting in a stand or on a bench.
“Keeping the ball out of the net is more important than how you can pass a ball as far as I’m concerned and Fraser is one of the best at that.”
Lennon took Forster on loan from Newcastle for two seasons before paying £2million for the skyscraper custodian in 2012.
He returned to England two years later for eight times that amount, but has been told he has no future at the club and would be available for a bargain fee.
