JAMES Forrest has, despite all of the success he has savoured over the years at Celtic, endured some difficult trips to Scotland’s capital.
He came on in the defeat to Legia Warsaw in the Champions League qualifying rounds at Murrayfield in 2014 and was unable to prevent his side losing 2-0 on the night and 6-1 on aggregate.
That result was annulled by Uefa after it emerged their Polish opponents had fielded an ineligible player and the Scottish champions progressed to the play-off against Maribor.
But other Edinburgh outings have been equally painful. Like the 4-0 reverse they suffered at the hands of Hearts at Tynecastle last December. Or the 1-0 loss to the same opponents at the same venue in August.
The winger, though, is undeterred. He admits he is relishing the prospect of returning to Edinburgh for the Betfred Cup semi-final at Murrayfield this afternoon. He believes it will be a unique occasion.
“It will be a good atmosphere with a sell-out and the crowd split 50-50,” he said. “It’s going to be a difficult game, a different experience and one you definitely want to be involved in. I don’t think there’s been a game like that there. It’s one you definitely want to play in. It’s going to be different to Hampden.”
Forrest is anticipating Hearts, the Scottish side who have given Celtic more problems than any other since Brendan Rodgers took over as manager, giving them another tough game even though they will be playing at a neutral ground on this occasion.
“I think maybe they prefer smaller parks, but they are more than capable of doing it on a bigger park,” he said. “They’ve come to Celtic Park and made it difficult there. We have to make sure we are at our best to go through.
“They are well organised. I know they’ve had a few players out injured, but everyone in the squad seems to know what they’re there to do. We just need to go and focus on our own game, be positive and make sure we do the job.”
Forrest believes Hearts have been lifted by the arrival of his Scotland team-mate Steven Naismith and knows Celtic will have to be wary of the threat the forward poses up front.
“When I first went in with Scotland, there were a lot of big characters there,” he said. “As a young boy, that helped. I can see how his presence has helped Hearts as well.
“He is always working hard and he is always wanting to win. Everyone shows it in different ways and that is the type of player he is. He has got success from that and he is definitely going to be one to watch. He will be a danger player for them.”
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