LEIL ABADA admits Celtic’s latest Centurian James Forrest is a constant source of inspiration.
The 31-year-old Scotland international winger rifled a hat-trick behind David Marshall in the impressive 6-1 romp over Hibs at Parkhead at the weekend to take his tally to 100 for the Hoops.
Abada, who has been competing with Forrest for the right-wing position since he arrived in a £3.5million switch from Maccabi Petah Tikva in July last year, joked he was still at school when the fans’ favourite netted his first for the club against Motherwell in May 2010.
THEN…James Forrest gets a touch to send the ball wide of Motherwell keeper John Ruddy to score his first Celtic goal in a 4-0 win at Parkhead on May 1 2010.
NOW…James Forrest celebrates his hat-trick – and his 100th goal – in the 6-1 victory over Hibs.
Displaying outstanding consistency, the sprightly forward, who has claimed an outstanding haul of TWENTY honours at his only club, has scored in every season since that breakthrough strike in a 4-0 victory over the Fir Parkers after Neil Lennon introduced him as a teenage substitute.
Abada, who celebrated his 21st birthday earlier this month, said: “Jamesy is a really good friend and he has been able to teach me so much. He has been at the club for a long time, has played a lot of games and scored a lot of goals.
“I can learn so much from him and I was so happy to see him score a hat-trick. I speak with him all the time and he gives me a lot of advice.
“What I admire most about him is his movement and technique and his finishing is good. I’m happy to have him as a team-mate and, hopefully, he can keep scoring for us because he deserves it.”
TARGET MEN…Liel Abada and Kyogo Furuhashi celebrate their hat-tricks in the 9-0 romp against Dundee United.
Asked what he was doing when Forrest embarked upon his astonishing sequence of strikes, the Israel international replied: “I was at school, I think I had just started to play football.
“This has always been my dream. I am really happy to be here and I am really happy to play for Celtic. This is a really unbelievable club with unbelievable fans. Hopefully, I will play a lot of games here.”
Abada, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “We have a very good squad full of very good players. Every player in the team can be in the line-up.
“One game I score, one game Jamesy will score, one game Daizen will score, Giakoumakis, Kyogo, Haksa. This is really good because that is our job.
“It was a good win and I think it was important to get our confidence back in the league after losing to Leipzig. I’m happy about the scoreline and we could have scored more. Sometimes in football you score and sometimes you miss.
“I’m not worried about statistics. For me, it is all about doing the job on the pitch. It doesn’t matter if I score or other players score, as long as someone scores and we win every game.”
HAMPDEN HERO…James Forrest races away after scoring the winner against St Johnstone in last season’s Premier Sports League Cup semi-final. Callum McGregor is about to join the celebrations.
The next challenge for Abada, Forrest and Co is the Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final against Motherwell at Fir Park on Wednesday evening with an unusual 6.15pm kick-off.
It was the veteran wing ace who rattled in the semi-final winner against St Johnstone last season, but, unfortunately, was injured and missed the 2-1 triumph over Hibs to claim Ange Postecoglou’s first piece of silverware at Celtic after taking over six months earlier.
Hopefully, Ton-Up Bhoy Forrest will get his reward this time around.
