Celtic legend John Hartson thinks that Bhoys winger James Forrest is putting himself in the mix for the Player of the Year award in Scotland with his performances so far this season.
Forrest augmented his stellar form for Celtic with a memorable outing for Scotland during their 4-0 win over Albania in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday.
The winger netted a brace in the second half to complete the rout for Alex McLeish’s men in Shkoder as they registered a comfortable win to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
Despite his commendable success domestically with Celtic in recent years, Forrest only opened his goal tally for the national team during the win over Albania.
Hartson, who spent five years at Celtic, is sure that Forrest is putting himself in the mix for the Player of the Year award in Scotland with his performances so far this season.
The former Bhoys striker also added that Forrest has improved his fitness levels and that sometimes his overall work rate goes unnoticed while playing for Celtic.
“There’s no doubt now he is well on his way to putting down a marker for the Player of the Year award”, Hartson wrote in his column for the Evening Times.
“But I also think that while we are noticing him more because of the goals he is getting for both club and country, what he does overall for the team gets lost sometimes.
“His fitness levels and his strength are excellent. And what that does is it gives everyone an out ball.
“So when the defence is under pressure and you can get the ball out to him on the flank then you know he has the ability to go forward and takes the team higher up the park.”
Forrest has been directly involved in 21 goals across all competitions for Celtic after scoring nine goals and registering 12 assists so far this season.
