IT isn’t often you’ll see a player with his head in his hands after his team have scored, but James Forrest had reason to after Ryan Christie sealed Celtic’s win with the third goal in their 3-1 win over Kilmarnock.
Forrest had met a Boli Bolingoli cross flush with his forehead from close range, and couldn’t believe it as Killie keeper Laurentiu Branescu pulled off a wonder save. While he was pleased to see teammate Christie tucking in the rebound, the fact his brother Alan scored a rare header for Ayr United in their win over Alloa on Saturday still had him cursing his luck.
“It was just because I don’t score many headers!” Forrest said. “I’ve only ever scored one, at Kilmarnock, but that was from about two yards out.
“My wee brother scored a header yesterday as well, so I was desperate for that one.
“The boys told me afterwards it was a brilliant save from the keeper, but I think they were just trying to make me feel better. I must admit I was a bit gutted.
“Their goalie was right up for it right from the start and he make a good few saves. He made us work for the goals but it’s always tough against Kilmarnock, home or away.
“We played really well and the boys enjoyed it. We were happy with it. The manager told us we’d need to be at it right from the start and we managed to keep it going. We scored three but we could have had a lot more. I know I could.
“There are some games in the season when you might get one chance and you score. Then there are ones like today where I had four or five chances but it just didn’t happen.
“But it shows you are playing well and with confidence when you are getting plenty of chances. If you keep doing the right things then the goals will come.”
Forrest said that the depth of Celtic’s squad as well as the momentum they have built up through their results has allowed them to cope with their hectic schedule.
“Since we came back in pre-season we’ve been to a lot of places and played in a lot of different competitions,” he said.
“The squad is really big though and its competitive, and as the manager said, we’ve had a really good start.
“We got a really good result the other night, but we wanted to put that to bed, make sure we got back with a really good performance.
“The win was the most important thing, but I think we got everything.”
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