Hearts' Alan Forrest has cheeky gift idea for Celtic brother James - as well as some high hopes for new year

Hearts winger aiming to keep the festive spirit alive against St Mirren

Alan Forrest’s brother James had a front row seat as Hearts ended Celtic’s proud 52-game unbeaten league run at Celtic Park last weekend. But, in case his sibling has blanked out the key moments, the Gorgie attacker joked that he may also source a recording of the match to gift him for his Christmas.

“Yeah, I might get that one sorted,” Forrest laughed, admitting that the mood in the Hearts camp remains high following the club’s first victory over the reigning Premiership champions on their own turf in 14 years. It was also a significant moment for the Forrest brothers. “I’ve played against them a few times and been on the end of heavy defeats and, you know, if they score early then they can hurt you all over. I was delighted to get the result That’s the first time I’ve beaten Celtic as a player so I was delighted with that. It’s usually him beating me. To be fair he took it well and said that we kind of deserved it. We were having a bit of banter after the game but it was nice that he was happy for me and that he got to watch me play and it was great for us to get the result.”

While the younger brother was given a starting berth, the Celtic stalwart watched the first 71 minutes of the match from the bench. By the time he entered the fray, Hearts had established their 2-0 lead and Kenneth Vargas had replaced Alan. “Off the back of that result the place is buzzing,” continued Forrest, “and I thought we deserved it as well. We had a game plan and every player carried it out. If you’re going to places like that you need everybody at it and I think everyone was. When you’re playing against Celtic, you can work on it during the week but you know they have great players that can hurt you so maybe you need to ride your luck at times as well, which we did. But I think we were quite comfortable in the game and the place was buzzing, especially after the result the week before.”

Brothers James Forrest (Celtic) and Alan Forrest (Hearts) battle in a match between their sides earlier this season. Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group

That was when the Tynecastle outfit lost to Aberdeen and, in a tightly-contested league that reminded them just how significant each result can prove to the standings. Which is why, having re-established themselves in third spot and with games coming thick and fast over the festive period, Forrest wants the capital club to push forward and produce results capable of backing up rather than undermining that Parkhead win, starting in Saturday’s third-v-fourth home Premiership clash with St Mirren. “We have four games coming up in two weeks,” said Forrest. “Celtic is a difficult place to go so it’s a bonus getting that result but it stands us in good stead now for the next four games.”

That relentless pursuit of victories is something he has watched James and Celtic adhere to throughout their more than decade-long dominance of the Scottish scene, backing up wins with more wins. “This is one where we have a tough side in St Mirren, who have done really well, and are on the same points as us,” said the Hearts player, who has been utilised as a winger and wingback but thrived in a more advanced role as Lawrence Shankland’s strike partner last weekend. “They are right with us in the table so just because we have had a result like that, you can’t take your foot off the gas. You don’t underestimate them because we know their strengths but we know that this is one, along with the three coming after, are where we want to kick on rather than take a step back.”

Looking to take time during the winter break to evaluate just how positively the season is progressing, manager Steven Naismith knows that the displays and the outcomes of the following four matches will go a long way to influencing the conclusion to those musings. “I'll look forward to the start of the new year when you will have a good idea of how you can evaluate the first half of the season,” he said. “We are in a good place at the moment, and these are four games where we can do some really good work. I believe we will. I'm looking forward to that.

“The games that we’ve got coming up, the reason why they are good, is they are against teams that have had good starts to the season, and have achieved so far. If we win them we will be in a good position and we will also have affected people around about us. That's it. We've seen so far how one result can swing things. As the season goes that stretches. We don't underestimate any of the games but we will be going into every one of them trying to win them, that's one thing for sure, whether they are home or away. We know that if we put some really hard work in now it makes everything much better after the break.”

Alan Forrest gets into the Christmas spirit at Hearts' training complex.

Heading into the break, having used this spell to exert some authority would only aid the squad mentally, minimising the psychological torture during the shutdown, and giving them something to hold onto and protect after the action resumes, according to Forrest. “It is big [the idea of going into the break clear in third place] because we have two or three weeks off, and things will be going through your head and you’ll be looking at the table. You will enjoy the break better if you are in third, on a decent amount of points, getting as close to second place as you can. In that way, you can see you are closer to where we want to be rather than the games not going well and we are looking up at third. Everyone wants to be at it and get maximum points if we can.” Fuelled by that triumph over Celtic, they believe they can .