JAMES Forrest last night admitted his joy at scoring the goal that earned Celtic a 1-1 draw with Cluj had been tempered when he learned the Parkhead club had accepted a £25m bid from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney immediately afterwards.
Forrest struck in the first-half in the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium to cancel out Mario Rondon’s opener and put his side in a strong position going into the second leg of the Champions League third round tie in Glasgow next week.
However, the Scotland winger confessed that he was saddened following the game in Romania when he discovered the Scottish champions had finally, after rejecting two bids for Tierney, agreed to sell the left back.
The 22-year-old will undergo a medical down south today and is set to put pen to paper with the Premier League club once that is completed.
“It’s disappointing that he might be going,” said Forrest. “Everyone at the club was hoping that he would stay. He’s come through the youths the same as me and I’m with him very day. It’s the same with the international squad as well.
READ MORE: Multiple reports claim Arsenal have agreed fee with Celtic for Kieran Tierney
“He’s done really well at Celtic and he’s massive on the club. He’s a big character in the changing room and he’s Scottish as well. You see a lot of comparisons with myself and with KT and I’ll delighted for him if it all goes through.
“He’s obviously earned himself a very big move. At the end of the day, it’s gone on for two and a half months. Kieran has done really well to cope with it all because it must have been unsettling for him. But we wish him well if he does end up going.”
Lennon confessed after the match that he was unsure what the situation with Tierney was. News that Celtic had finally accepted an offer from Arsenal only emerged while the match was being played. “I’m hearing rumours myself but we’ve had nothing confirmed,” he said.
The Northern Irishman, though, confirmed there had been interest in Scott Sinclair, the English winger who was didn’t travel to Romania with the Celtic squad, ahead of the close of the transfer window down south this evening.
Asked if there was interest in the former Swansea and Manchester City player, he said: “I think there is. A player of that quality? I’m sure there will be interest.”
“It’s been quiet. I have to say it’s been very quiet. It was a quiet weekend, which pleases me. We don’t want to lose any players. I don’t know it’s very unpredictable and these things go right to the wire.
“We couldn’t get him (Sinclair) in the squad. We had a chat with Scotty on Monday and Tuesday before we left. We’ve got strength in depth there.
READ MORE: Scott Sinclair left behind as Celtic travel to Romania
"It’s difficult to get him in the squad with the numbers we have and we had Simunovic and Jullien back in from the weekend and Shved as well.”
Meanwhile, Lennon absolved Boli Bolingoli, the Belgian defender who will take over from Tierney at left back if the Scot completed his move to Arsenal today, from all of the blame for the goal that Celtic conceded against Cluj.
“I thought we got lazy with it,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s completely Boli’s fault I think Jamesie could have done a little bit more in tracking back but again we’ll analyse that over the next couple of days.
“Cluj scored a great goal from their point of view. We can look at it and analyse it, but it’s a great counter-attacking goal, a great through ball and a good finish.
"But our reaction was very good. We scored a great goal ourselves. We defended very well in the second half and restricted Cluj to minimal chances.
“There is still work to do but we got a great lift with the goal and obviously we can take it back to Celtic Park now and I think we obviously have an advantage. It’s only a slight advantage but it’s important. I think there are goals in the tie for us.
"I’m delighted with the result. It could have been better but I’m delighted to get a draw and obviously the away goal is very important. I felt we always looked like we could score tonight."
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