James Forrest has had to bide his time at Celtic for a chance to come along again to impress Brendan Rodgers.
The 32-year-old was linked with a surprise Parkhead exit in January; however, he has admitted his only motivation at the time was trying to nail down a first-team slot, and as they say, the rest is history.
Per Transfermarkt, Forrest has been a handy contributor for Celtic, registering seven goals and two assists this term, three coming in crucial post-split fixtures, helping his side to claim a third Scottish Premiership title on the trot.
His performances have prompted calls from pundits to see him called up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for EURO 2024, which he will name a provisional template for tomorrow afternoon.
Nevertheless, competition for places is vast at Celtic. Daizen Maeda, Luis Palma, Nicolas Kuhn and Hyunjun Yang have all vied for a slot throughout the campaign, making Forrest’s recent emergence even more impressive.
James Forrest on how he managed to nail down a first-team slot
Rodgers isn’t an easy man to please, but from evidence, he has a lot of love for Forrest, who he labelled as the ‘best winger’ at the club in a bold assessment of his abilities back in March.
Cited via The Herald, the Prestwick-born man has opened up on how he has managed to deal with competition for his place over the years, revealing that he looks to learn off new arrivals to add further variety to his diverse skillset.
He explained: “I am at an age where everyone will talk about my age, and that I’m older. I do want to keep playing for as long as I can, and for as long as I feel good.
“I do feel older because I have been here a long time and been through a lot. We do keep signing younger players, too – but that’s the way the club is going.
“For me that’s good as even older players can learn off the younger ones. It’s good to work with younger boys and older guys. Whenever we sign a winger, I can learn off them because they can do different stuff.
“You look at their game and see if you can add something, and that is what I have always tried to do.”
Forrest has done his bit for Celtic this season, coming out of the blue to add experience and composure off either flank, demonstrating he still has the quality to be an efficient creative outlet.
Whether he will be involved to the same extent next campaign is a conversation for the summer; however, there is no doubt his presence over the last few months has played a major part in further success at Parkhead.