Ange Postecoglou has a huge Celtic starting XI decision to make

James Forrest

As for Forrest, his recent injury history is not promising. While the tag of ‘injury-prone’ would perhaps be unfair; it is true that the Scottish international has had a series of spells on the sidelines in the past couple of seasons.

Yet, his contributions to Celtic in recent years cannot and should not be underplayed. The winger has been absolutely sensational for the club over the years, consistently scoring and assisting, a considerable amount of which have come at crucial moments.

There is no better example of this than his cameo against St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. Forrest replaced Abada in the second half, and did not take long before finding a way past Zander Clark, subsequently sending Celtic through to the first final of the season. This is his undeniable ability: to deliver when the pressure is on.

His game-time has slowly accumulated in recent weeks, and he even started in the Hoops’ heroic defeat to Bayer Leverkusen away in Germany.

The Celtic manager has a big decision to make

So, who is ahead in Postecoglou’s right-wing pecking order at the moment? The past week offers little support in arriving at a definitive conclusion.

Forrest started in Celtic’s away defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last midweek, but Abada got the nod in the Hoops’ weekend victory over an Aberdeen side captained by Scott Brown.

Throw in Mikey Johnston, Kyogo’s ability to operate out wide should Giakoumakis start through the middle, and even Karamoko Dembele, when he will return from his injury, and you can start to build a formidable picture of strength in depth when it comes to the right-wing spot.

It’s a nice headache to have for Postecoglou, but also one to resolve swiftly. If Celtic are to win the Scottish Premiership title, their front three could very well be the most important part of their team.