James Forrest is fit and ready for club and country

Celtic interim boss John Kennedy has said James Forrest is back from injury and ready to be a part of Scotland’s Euro 2020 squad.

Forrest missed a huge chunk of the season after ankle surgery but his return to the first team was short-lived as back and hamstring complaints kept him out of Celtic’s last two games.

The forward is back in training and in contention to face Rangers this Sunday and Kennedy says he has no concerns about him being ready to finish the season as part of Steve Clarke’s squad.

“If Steve has watched us he will have identified that when James came back in he was looking sharp and like his old self,” he said.

“He has had a minor setback, he has missed two games but he is back fit again and there are no worries with him going forward.

“In terms of Scotland, he has been a big player with big moments for Scotland over the years and he is certainly the type of attacking and creative player you would like to have in your group.

“So I am pretty sure Steve will be pretty keen to consider James for the Euros.”

Kennedy is preparing his side for the final derby of the season, with Celtic hoping to end not only Rangers’ unbeaten league run but also their unbeaten record against the Parkhead side this season.

“You always get judged against Rangers, against your biggest rivals,” Kennedy said.

“We’ve not been good enough in the games this season. Performance-wise, in the last three especially, there’s not been a lot in the games but Rangers have taken the big chances and we haven’t.

“That’s been the deciding factor and we have to change that. Going into the game, that’s what we want to change.

“Going into the game the general play is fine and we’ll attack the game in the same manner but when we create our big moments, we have to be ruthless.

“That’s why we’ve been successful over the years, because we know how to win games. We have confidence that when we create three chances we score two of them.

“We’ve not been quite as clinical this season and that’s what we have to fix going forward.”