James Forrest reveals Celtic heart-to-heart with Brendan Rodgers over future

James Forrest admits he held a heart-to-heart with Brendan Rodgers over his Celtic future.

The veteran winger was frozen out during the first half of the campaign and never kicked a ball between the end of December and start of March. One-club man Forrest had options to leave Parkhead in January but the 32-year-old decided to stay put after talks with Rodgers.

He said: "I did speak to the manager a couple of times, and it was mainly just about getting that chance. Sometimes it does come along and I've been able to take it. Celtic has always been my No 1, and I love playing here and winning stuff.

"It's unbelievable, but I'm at an age where I wanted to play. I'm not 35 or 36. It was a discussion I had with the club, but I was glad when the window shut and that was out of the way. I was going to be here and my focus was to work hard and hopefully get a chance.

"You never know how things are going to turn out but it's been incredible. The last few months have been fantastic for me. And hopefully the final goes well too."

Forrest's patience paid off as the Scotland attacker made a stunning comeback during the business end of the campaign, helping the Hoops to yet another title win.

Asked how he stayed motivated during his time out of the squad, he said: "It was good because it wasn't just me. There were four or five of us who weren't in the squads and maybe when the team was playing, we were at Lennoxtown doing a session. We all really pushed each other in training.

"It was hard because you didn't know if you would get a chance, but you had to make sure you were ready if you did. There was no point tossing off the training and not doing it. If you do that, you wouldn't be fit enough and ready when you did get a chance.

"It's maybe credit to the players I trained with that they kept us going. I'm at an age where everyone will talk about my age, and that I'm older. I do want to keep playing for as long as I can, and for as long as I feel good.

"It would be hard to get it back if you didn't train as hard as you possibly could. Every player at Celtic trains hard and it was down to that."