He isn’t one for the limelight, James Forrest. Every time it is mentioned to him that he is now one of Celtic’s most decorated players, he seems almost embarrassed that his haul of 24 medals for the club has him behind only the legendary Bobby Lennox on the club’s all-time honour roll.
So, it is entirely unsurprising to hear that when his teammates were calling on him to mark his 500th appearance for the club in the derby victory over Rangers on Sunday with a speech in the dressing room, the winger showed the same capacity for wriggling out of tough spots as he has done on the pitch throughout his long career.
Forrest needs to tick off another 76 matches for the club if he is to edge Bobby Hogg out of the all-time Celtic top 10 appearances list, but having thought he might not ever pull on a Celtic jersey again at the beginning of this year, you now wouldn’t bet against the 32-year-old doing exactly that.
Just don’t expect him to make a song and dance – or give a speech – about it.
“A couple of boys were shouting for me to make a speech, but I managed to get away from that one,” Forrest said.
"It's a great milestone. Obviously coming through the academy here and making a 500th appearance in front of your home fans in a victory against your rivals, it was a great day all round.
“Over the last few years, you see it less and less. You see a lot of players moving on from clubs after two, three, four years. That's more the norm now.
“But being at a club the size of this for so long is a great achievement and I just need to keep working hard to try and add to that now as well.
“To be honest I only knew in the last couple of games I was close to 500. But I had a spell late January and February when I wasn't in squads and I didn't know if I was ever going to play for Celtic again.
“But when stuff like that happens it makes it even better when you do get achievements. It's the same throughout your career, you maybe go through bad spells through loss of form or you're injured, so it's always good when you come back, win stuff and help contribute for this club.”
Forrest may have been reluctant to toot his own horn in front of his teammates, but his manager Brendan Rodgers has rarely had such qualms about publicly lauding him, even labelling him ‘the best winger at the club’ during the period last season where he often left him kicking his heels in the stand.
On the occasion of his 500th match, the praise was once again fulsome from his manager.
“In the changing room he spoke really well,” Forrest said.
“He obviously spoke about the game first and foremost and how well the boys did defensively and attack-wise. And then he mentioned it at the end, he just said it was a great achievement.
“It was great for the boys making their debuts in front of the fans, you saw the atmosphere and how the boys played.
“I have been here a number of years and Cal (McGregor) as well, we have a good core group and that's really good for the new boys.”
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What was it though that kept Forrest going during that spell out of the team and even out of the squad at points last year, before roaring back into the side and making such a telling contribution as Celtic managed to tuck a league and Scottish Cup into the trophy cabinet, and allowing him to add another couple of medals to his personal pile?
“Maybe just belief in myself,” he said.
“I felt I could still contribute. I know people say you're getting older, and you are, but I was training every day with the players and I didn't feel out of place.
“It's not just me, we always have loads of players in our squad throughout the years and sometimes players can work hard and not get a chance. It's just the way it is in football sometimes.
“I just wanted to keep working hard in training and then I knew if I did get a chance I was going to need to take it. Especially being an attacker at Celtic, your game is always based on goals and assists and contributing to the team.
“When I got my chance, I feel as if I didn't look back, and that's been it since then.”
That brilliant form earned Forrest what had looked an unlikely recall to the Scotland set-up for the European Championships, but the tournament didn’t pan out the way that the national side nor Forrest would have wanted.
Many fans were left scratching their heads as head coach Steve Clarke didn’t give Forrest one minute of action on the pitch, even when the Scots were desperately looking for a moment of magic to unlock the Hungarian defence in their final group game.
It may have been thought that at 32, Forrest would subsequently have followed the lead of club teammate and captain Callum McGregor in retiring from international duty on the back of that disappointment, but he joined up with the squad again today for the Nations League matches against Poland and Portugal.
“Every player is different,” he said.
“Obviously I went away to the Euros and it was the first time I had been away for years and I enjoyed it. But as a player you want to play, at club and international level, and I didn't get the chance to do that.
“But while I am still feeling fit and healthy I'd like to try and contribute if I can.
“I understood what kind of role I was going to have before I went, but I thought it was a real good end to the season that I had here and I took that confidence into the Euros.
“But the manager took 26 players so you know, he needs to make the decision at the time in games, and there's not much I can do about that.
“I just need to do what I did here, keep working hard and hopefully I get another chance.”
