Celtic defender Kieran Tierney has been full of praise for teammate James Forrest this week, revealing that giving him the ball as often as possible was a key instruction from Neil Lennon prior to Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.
Forrest was outstanding against the Dons during the Hampden clash, exploiting their full-backs and eventually finding space to unleash a ferocious shot that opened the scoring in the 3-0 win.
The 27-year-old is a big contender to win player of the year awards and Tierney reckons it’s a joy to play alongside him in the Hoops team right now.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the left-back said:
James is always looking for the ball but, hey, we want him on the ball. That was our instruction. If we get the ball and James is there, give it to him and watch him go.
James is that good. In so many games now he’s getting doubled-up on because they know he’s such a threat, but he still manages to find space and take men on.
It’s a joy for us to play in the same team as him. At his goal, I was actually screaming for the ball — then next thing I know I’m running towards him to say, ‘Good job, Jamesy’.
I am running out of compliments for him because we are complimenting him every week now.
Forrest has scored an impressive 17 goals so far this season and assisted an unbelievable 20 more, an attacking contribution that should have Celtic fans singing his name in the stands.
Despite being impressive last season, this one is by far his most productive yet in a Celtic shirt and he is now considered as one of our elite talents alongside Odsonne Edouard and Tierney himself.
He’s had ups and downs at Celtic, but has matured into a very intelligent and aware player who can not only use his pace to punish defenders but can also link up effectively with teammates or find that final devastating pass or shot.
Long may it continue.
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