‘He’s somebody that can ruin careers’: Tony Watt raves about James Forrest

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The two Scotsmen were teammates for three seasons as youngsters at Celtic before Watt moved on to Standard Liege.

Current free-agent Tony Watt has sung the highest of praises to his former Celtic teammate James Forrest as the 26-year-old continues to go about dominating the domestic scene in Scotland.

Forrest first burst on to the scene under Neil Lennon in 2010/11, having made his debut the previous season and has since gone on to enjoy a stellar career at Celtic Park, the stuff of dreams for any academy graduate.

The Hoops wide man is known for terrorising defences with his searing pace, and has decent statistics to go along with his performances.

In 277 games, Forrest has bagged 54 goals and 44 assists, and is nearing a quarter century of Scotland caps.

However, it has not really been until the arrival of Brendan Rodgers that we have seen the best of Forrest on a regular basis, having developed the reputation of an inconsistent performer under Lennon and Ronny Deila.

Speaking to Open Goal, Tony Watt explains how a string of injury problems under Lennon, followed by a confidence crisis under Deila, led to the winger’s hot and cold form.

“[Forrest] is somebody that can ruin careers,” former teammate Watt said.

“I’ve always said [he would be this good].

“Under Lennon he had a few injury problems, under Deila he had confidence problems, and Rodgers had just come in, went confidence, injury free, he’s the man to get stuff out of Jamesy.”

Should Forrest finish the season strongly, with 16 goals to his name so far, he is in with a real shot of being crowned the SPFA Player of the Season.

All the 26-year-old can do now is help his side on their quest for a second domestic treble in a row, having crashed out of the Europa League in dramatic fashion earlier this week.