HAMPDEN goal hero James Forrest was hailed by boss Ange Postecoglou after his dramatic introduction in the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final against St Johnstone last night.
The injury-plagued Scotland international winger was pushed on in the 69th minute for out-of-touch Liel Abada and had an immediate impact with the only goal on a tense confrontation at the national stadium.
Forrest was on the pitch a mere four minutes before he latched onto a deflection from a left-wing cross by Filipe Jota to thunder a six-yard drive beyond the stranded Zander Clark to book a return to the south side of Glasgow on Sunday December 19 where the Hoops will be afforded the opportunity of an early Christmas celebration.
Postecoglou acknowledged the worth of the 30-year-old forward who saw the previous campaign just about obliterated by an ankle injury and told Celtic TV: “He’s worked really hard.
“He’s had a tough start to the season, but we’ve been patient with him and I knew once we got him into the team, the way we play would suit him – he’s an experienced quality player.
“It’s great for us we’re at that stage now where we have depth on the bench where we can put players on.
“We’ve just got to keep going, it doesn’t stop. We know that’s the levels we expect to perform at.
“We know there’s still challenges ahead of us and we still need to improve, but at the moment we are on a good road.”
THE GOOD AULD WAYS AS FORREST FIRES WINNER
