James Forrest is in fine form for Scottish Premiership champions Celtic but Alex McLeish still left him out of his Scotland squad.
What more does James Forrest have to do to force his way into the Scotland squad?
The Celtic winger was left out of Alex McLeish’s 23-man party on Thursday. Ironically, this came just four days after his remarkable four-goal haul inspired The Hoops to a 6-0 thrashing of St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
And, speaking to the Evening Telegraph, former Celtic striker John Hartson has admitted that he was baffled by McLeish’s decision to leave Forrest at home, particularly after Scotland lacked spark going forward in successive defeats to Israel and Portugal.
“If I was in James Forrest’s position I think I might be inclined to take the hump with Scotland,” Hartson said.
“I mean, what else do you have to do to get into the team? If you score four goals and are one of the best players in the country but can’t get a start for a game against Israel then I think you might be tempted to go and have a think about the situation.
“As a former striker, I have to say that I would have loved to have played alongside James. He would have laid goals on a plate for me – and a lot of them too. He has pace, he can get past a man and then his delivery into the back post is always spot on.”
Strangely enough, McLeish decided to call up Forrest’s Celtic team-mate Ryan Christie, despite the fact that he has started just one league game all season. The former Celtic winger Gary Mackay-Steven, now of Aberdeen, was also handed a place in the squad ahead of the in-form Forrest.
But if the long-serving Hoops attacker can prove that his St Johnstone display was not just a one off, McLeish will surely be unable to ignore him heading into the next international break in November.
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