JAMES FORREST had a good feeling when Brendan Rodgers told him to get ready to replace Nicolas Kuhn against St Johnstone yesterday.
The evergreen Celtic winger got the nod in the 63rd minute to join the action with the champions already leading 2-0 against the Perth outfit.
Kyogo Furuhashi, with his 15th goal of the campaign, had headed in the opener as half-time approached and then the Japanese international set up Kuhn for his first goal in Paradise within one minute of the turnaround.
It was left to 32-year-old Forrest to inflict further pain upon Craig Levein’s side and he didn’t disappointment with an explosive left-foot shot from just inside the box five minutes after coming off the bench.
HANDS UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…James Forrest celebrates his blistering strike against St Johnstone.
Forrest also claimed the killer third when the teams met at McDiarmid Park earlier in the campaign and the Scotland international also has happy memories of facing the Saints, especially a four-goal first-half performance in Perth as the Hoops romped to a 6-0 triumph in October 2018.
The fans’ favourite reflected on his latest duel and said: “We played St Johnstone here at the start of the season and we drew 0-0, but on this occasion, we created chances and we scored a few offside ‘goals’.
“We managed to get three, we had a good few other chances when we could have scored more, as well.
“So it’s positive, but the only negative is that we conceded the goal. However, I think there’s a lot of good positives to take from that and once we come back from the international break then we can go again.”
Forrest, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “It’s good that we’ve managed to use the squad over the last few games and I think it’s important for the other boys to come back after the international break.
“The competition is healthy in the squad and that can only make us better for going forward.”
Next up for Forrest and his team-mates is the fixture on Livingston’s dodgy plastic pitch a fortnight today.
The champions will remain a point ahead in the title race over the international break with the cancellation of their nearest challengers’ match against Dundee at Dens Park, sheduled for noon today, cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
