Forster urges Celts to block out anxiety

FRASER FORSTER admits the Celtic players have to simply ignore the anxiety which grips Parkhead when things are not going well.

The final minutes of Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Dunfermline were tension-filled, as the nervousness which emanated from the stands after Andy Barrowman’s 86th-minute strike for the visitors had a clear affect on the Hoops players, who had performed impressively for most of the match.

And moments after the final whistle confirmed that Celtic had closed the gap on Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders Rangers to seven points, manager Neil Lennon became embroiled in a verbal altercation with one disgruntled supporter.

Ahead of the visit of St Mirren today, Forster, in his second loan spell from Newcastle, said: “It was just in the last few minutes after we conceded the goal but that is natural in every ground in every country.

“It is nothing unique here. You can obviously hear the fans turn a bit, the atmosphere change but we just need to focus on our own jobs.

“We have quite an experienced squad, age-wise we are not particularly old but everyone has played here enough to get used to it now so it is just important that we keep focused.

“At the end of the day we won and got three points and that’s what we set out to do.

“St Mirren have done terrifically well this season but it important that we focus on ourselves and put in a good performance.

“And with the quality we have, hopefully that will be enough.”