James Forrest insists Celtic will be ready for anything, even if it means a gruelling 7,000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan before the first Glasgow derby of the season.
Kairat Almaty hold a 1-0 advantage over Slovan Bratislava after the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie, with the winner set to face Brendan Rodgers’ side in the play-off.
The Kazakh outfit thought they’d doubled their lead in Almaty, but their second goal was ruled out, leaving the return leg in Slovakia finely poised.
If Kairat progress, Celtic will face a daunting journey and a five-hour time difference in the days leading up to the derby. But Forrest is taking it in his stride.
“With Celtic, we’ve always adjusted time zones, and with Scotland we’ve stayed on UK time,” Forrest told CeltsAreHere. “It’s not really for us players to worry about – we have loads of really good staff who’ll always keep the players right and give them the best chance to feel good for the games.
“We talk about potentially going to Kazakhstan, but with Celtic we’ve been there a few times. We know it could be a difficult game. We have a lot of international boys in our team who do a lot of travelling, and they know what it’s like as well, so it’s never an excuse. I’ve never heard anyone say that for not going through a tie or anything like that.”
Heading into the tie, Brendan Rodgers has admitted there might not be new faces in the squad, which is quite frustrating.
James Forrest is one of three players covering the wings, alongside Yang and Maeda. The Scottish winger made an impact from off the bench at the weekend, rolling back the years on the right-hand side. But he isn’t getting any younger, and playing three games a week, and a large chunk of those minutes, won’t exactly be easy for the winger.
