FRASER Forster paid tribute last night to Celtic goalkeeper coach Stevie Woods and the "world- class back four or five" in front of him after breaking Bobby Clark's 43-year-old Scottish record for minutes without conceding a top flight goal, then set his sights on eclipsing Edwin van der Sar's all-time UK mark.
Forster now stands on 1214 unbeaten minutes in top-flight matches, a statistic that eclipses the 1155-minute mark achieved by Aberdeen goalkeeper Clark in 1970-71, but still 97 minutes shy of the 1311-minute, 14-game clean sheet milestone created by Manchester United's Dutch goalkeeper in 2008/09.
"There have been some fantastic keepers, and the record itself is a fantastic record," said Forster. "It was something Bobby Clark was obviously very proud of. It is something we are very proud of as a club, a team and a coaching staff. Massive credit needs to go to Stevie Woods.
"For me, the most important save was probably at home against Partick Thistle, from a James Craigen header," he added. "But a lot of the time chances have been limited, due to the quality of the back four.
"Efe and Virgil are world-class, we have two quality right-backs and Emilio is normally spot on. It is something we are not getting too tied up in because we could have a deflection, a penalty, anything. But Van der Sar was a top keeper. He just seemed to get better and better, brilliant with both feet and a fantastic shot-stopper as well. It is a brilliant record to have and obviously I have massive respect for him."
Stewart Fisher
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