FRASER Forster realises the members of this Celtic squad are unused to being in second place in the Ladbrokes Premiership table or being in a neck-and-neck title race with their Glasgow rivals Rangers.
But the former England goalkeeper, who returned to Parkhead from Southampton on loan this summer, is accustomed to the pressure that both bring from his first stint in Glasgow.
He knows that Neil Lennon’s team need to beat Ross County in the league at home this afternoon to keep up the heat on the Ibrox club before their match against Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow.
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But the 6ft 7in player admitted he missed that when he returned down south and is relishing the challenge of catching and overtaking Steven Gerrard’s side in the weeks ahead.
“The first time I was here it was always the case that we had to win every week,” he said.
“I remember, when Rangers had an early kick-off and we were playing at three, you’d look at the scoreboard and think: ‘We’ve got 10 minutes to score so we can keep up with them or overtake them or put more pressure on them’.
“You don’t want to drop points when it’s tight like that. Obviously, you’ll do it from time to time, but the key is winning your home games and winning them well?”
Forster added: “One of the biggest things I missed when I left here was that ‘we’ve got to win every week’ mentality, when you’re expected to take three points every single week and even a draw was a bad result.
“That pressure we have here was something I definitely felt nostalgic for. It’s a good thing to have and the lads here thrive on it.
“But we need to concentrate on ourselves and not get drawn into what Rangers are doing.
“If we play the way we know we can do – and not drop to the standards of those games at Livingston and Hibs – then we should be okay.
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“A win for us against County will put pressure on Rangers to do the same on Sunday and that’s just the way it is because we hardly ever seem to play at the same time.
“But it’s not as though we’re level on points going into the last five weeks of the season – there’s a long way to go yet. Even so, we still need to ensure that we start winning again and keep winning.
“I remember a lot of games where it would be 1-1 late on and then we’d score a winner in the last minute and that would put pressure on Rangers.
“You saw it in England last season when Manchester City and Liverpool went head to head and everyone was waiting for someone to slip up.”
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