JAMES McFadden believes James Forrest will never change whether he scores four goals in one game or is dropped by his country.

The Celtic winger's exclusion from the last two Scotland games raised eyebrows given how consistently well he's played over the past two years.

His scoring feat at St Johnstone was not missed by McFadden, the national side's coach, who is a fan of this level-headed player who is never too up or down no matter what is going on with his life.

McFadden said: "James is a great guy. He never played the last two games but he was brilliant, his attitude is superb.

“We’ve got no complaints. He’s not going to go and get carried away with himself.

“He has been playing for Celtic for a long time and he understands the pressures and expectation there. It would be difficult to score four goals every game, but he wants to have a major impact on games anyway.

“I think he just knows he’s capable of it. It’s no surprise."

Forrest has a chance of facing Israel on Thursday even if he's asked to play a different role to the one he does for Celtic.

McFadden said: "He has played a number of positions for Celtic. He has played as a striker, as a wing-back, wide right and wide left.

“He’s a good football player. We have played him as a striker in a 3-5-2 and he is hungry.

“I think football players now are adaptable. The good thing is, certainly when I played, I would have preferred to play in my position but if I was getting a game I didn’t really care.

“He is disciplined, he is hard-working and can play in a number of positions. You saw on Sunday when he gets running at people he causes problems.

“That’s what you want to see. We know he’s a good player and it’s fantastic he can go and score four goals in a game from a wide position.

“It’s a great problem to have when you’ve got guys that are flying at club level and are desperate to come away and do well.

“We have got a fantastic chance of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in 20 years – it will be 22 years by the time it comes around.

“Everybody wants to be a part of it. That’s what we need."

Some fans believe Alex McLeish has his favourites - Forrest not being one of them - an accusation McFadden insisted was nonsense.

He said: "Everybody here has got a chance of playing. There is nobody here to make up the numbers and that’s what’s great about the squad at the minute.

“We are looking at how we go into the game on Thursday, and it’s great. We want players that are playing at the top of their level and scoring goals.

“It was fantastic for James Forrest. He’s a great player and we want guys coming here saying ‘I want to be the man – I want to play.’

“I’m delighted for him, and it’s a great problem to have that we need to find ways to fit players into your team."