James Forrest insists Odsonne Edouard transfer speculation is a good thing for Celtic

James Forrest, left, says he is loving playing with Celtic team-mate Odsonne Edouard. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

During Celtic’s recent dominance of Scottish football, winger Forrest has savoured operating alongside two of the finest central strikers the club have had in the modern era.

Following the departure of Moussa Dembele to Lyon for a record fee of £19.7 million in the summer of 2018, his French compatriot Odsonne Edouard has picked up the mantle magnificently at Celtic.

Edouard scored his 26th goal of the current season in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Kilmarnock which saw Neil Lennon’s side stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership to 12 points.

It’s little wonder that many observers believe the talismanic 22-year-old will exceed Dembele’s valuation when he leaves Celtic.

Forrest has no concerns over  speculation linking Edouard with a departure as soon as this summer, regarding it simply as validation of his outstanding form for Celtic.

“I think it’s a positive for Odsonne and for the club and for the players as well if he is attracting admirers elsewhere, because you know you are playing with a really good player,” said Forrest.

“He’s putting in performances in every game and every competition, he’s doing it in Europe as well, so it’s good for us that we’ve got him and hopefully he can just keep doing what he’s doing.”

Celtic will go into the second leg of their Europa League last-32 tie against Copenhagen in Glasgow on Thursday night with the benefit of the away goal scored by Edouard in the 1-1 draw in Denmark last week.

His sublime finish that night came after he had missed two earlier chances, the sign of a player not prone to any self-doubt.

“He’s so cool in those situations,” added Forrest. “A lot of other players would maybe have beaten themselves up after missing the first two chances, but he finished it so coolly and it’s a real credit to him.

“All the boys know that if he gets a chance he is more likely to score it than not. He’s really good. Since he came in a couple of years ago he’s been great.

“For wide players and attackers, he is good to play with because his  link-up play is good and he can go by himself as well. He’s great to have in the team.

“It’s strange to compare him with Moussa because although they might both be strikers, they are two totally different players.

“If you ask any Celtic player, they will tell you that they have enjoyed playing with both of them, but I think Odsonne’s link-up play and his cool finishing is great and it’s a real credit to him the way he is going just now.”

Forrest, Scotland’s Player of the Year last season, has maintained his own high standards this season with 16 goals and multiple assists. The 28-year-old should return to the Celtic starting line-up against Copenhagen, having sat out the weekend win over Killie with a minor knock, and is optimistic about the prospect of reaching the last 16 of the Europa League.

“There were mixed feelings after the first leg,” he said. “It’s a good result in hindsight because they missed a penalty, but we had a lot of chances in the first half and we probably could have killed it.

“But away from home in Europe to get a 1-1 is a good result, and we’ve got the second leg now at home, but because we played well on the break and had a few chances, it was a bit of a mixed night. We got the away goal which is really important and we will be confident on Thursday.

“We know that if we can keep it tight against them, defend from the front and defend together as a team like we did in Copenhagen, then we’ve got a lot of good players that can hurt them.

“We made a lot of really good  chances over there and we could  have scored more, and that is a real positive for us.

“It’s a relentless schedule at the moment but it’s just the same as how it has been since pre-season, you have games all the time right through to December and it doesn’t calm down, because it’s been exactly the same since the winter break.

“I think we’ve had really good performances and results since the break though, and we’re going to keep looking forward to the games coming up.

“The strength of the squad helps. We’ve got some real quality players in the team and ones who aren’t playing as well.

“The staff keep on at us all the time, and I think when you are still in Europe after Christmas and going for leagues and cups as well, then  everyone is right up for it.

“You have to play well to stay in the team too, so I think that’s why everyone’s performances have been so good of late.

“We were never thinking about going on a nine or ten-game winning run, we were just taking it a game at a time and the performances have got better with each game we’ve played since we’ve returned.

“We’ve had a lot of big results  in some hard games, and I think that Copenhagen was another  positive one ahead of the second leg on Thursday.”