CELTIC winger James Forrest last night thanked Gordon Strachan for standing by him during the worst days of his career.
The Scotland manager retained faith with one of his favourites even when Forrest was struggling for a regular place at his club when chronic fitness problems threatened to end his career at Parkhead.
The 25-year-old refused a new contract in January having tired of his role under Ronny Deila and few Celtic supporters then would have mourned his departure.
Strachan, however, continued to pick a player who has been back to his best under Brendan Rodgers and Forrest will be eternally grateful to the national team boss for his loyalty during the dark times.
Forrest said: The manager (Strachan) has really helped me a lot. He played a big part in helping me during that time. He spoke to me a lot, he had me involved in a lot of squads, even when I maybe wasn’t playing every week at club level.
“It was good for me, joining up with great players the whole time, training boys who are playing down in England and working with top coaches as well. I really appreciated what he did for me and that support is not something I’ll forget.
“I just want to keep working hard for him and playing well any time he gives me a chance.”
Forrest is likely to start Saturday’s World Cup qualifier with Lithuania at Hampden Park on the bench, but not so long ago even his place as a substitute would have provoked a minor outcry.
His form, however, this season has been his best for years and now fully fit and confident after being the brunt of a lot of criticism, some of it unwarranted, the player has a smile on his face and is ready to prove wrong any remaining doubters.
Forrest said: “Brendan Rodgers has been a big influence on me. I’m sure a lot of the Celtic boys would say the same. He’s came in and given us a lot of confidence.
"We’ve been working hard and I think it has showed. Hopefully we can keep it going.
“I spoke to him when we came back for pre-season. He just told me that he’d see me play before and he told me what he expected.
"I think he spoke to all the boys and it was clear he wanted us to work hard. It turned out to be a really good pre-season and we kept that going in to the campaign.
“You can take that in to the international scene. All the boys will tell you, if you are feeling confident then you come here with a spring in your step and it can only be good for the national team.
“There’s a lot of good players here who have been playing well for their clubs.”
Forrest’s biggest problem lay in his hamstrings which are a crucial area for any footballer and even more so when speed is such an important part of your game.
He said: “Is this the best I’ve played? Definitely. I’ve played a lot of games and it’s been a great start to the season for me and the team.
“But this is just the start. There are a lot of important games coming up for Celtic and Scotland and I’m just excited to be part of them.
"The injuries were frustrating but it’s just part and parcel of football. It happens to most players at some point in their careers and it’s more about how you deal with it.
“This is the fittest I have felt in my career. I’ve really had the benefit of a hard pre-season. I think we all have. The games have come think and fast as well so it’s really helped in terms of building the fitness.
“It was tough during those days. But I’ve always had faith in my ability. You have to keep believing during the good times and the bad times and stay as positive as possible.
“Confidence is a big part of it as well. It comes from the manager. He installs it and if you are winning games regularly the confidence builds.
“It makes a huge difference. I’ve been really enjoying my football and hopefully it will continue.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here