WHILE hailing his whole squad for their incredible nine-in-a-row triumph, Celtic manager Neil Lennon reserved special praise for the club’s 'modern-day greats' James Forrest and Scott Brown. As club captain, Brown’s influence behind the scenes is widely recognised, yet Forrest believes it’s hard to quantify just how important he is to the Hoops and their enduring success.

“We’ve had great managers during the nine-in-a-row run,” said Forrest. “And then with the fans, it’s a case of everyone just wanting to win more and more. Then you’ve got Broony in there as well, he’s non-stop every day in training. He’s constant and that rubs off on everyone, which is a great thing to have.

“Anyone you speak to – whether they’re here, have left or have just arrived – will tell you how important Broony is here as a captain. When new guys come in, they maybe don’t realise how important he is until they’re in there in the changing room and playing with him. Right from the first trophy until now, I still think the same. He’s kept his standards so high and that’s full credit to him. That’s helped the club massively.”

Forrest said it was great for Neil Lennon to have won the first three titles of the current run as manager, and to have then returned to win the last two. The Irishman returned the Celtic dugout at a difficult juncture of last season, and has since won every domestic tournament he’s competed in. Forrest, in turn, reckons it's great for everyone involved at the club to have someone so passionate about Celtic and everything it stands for at its helm.

Speaking of the form on the pitch this campaign, Forrest once more hailed the virtues of the club’s mid-season training camp in Dubai - which he feels allowed the squad to reach new levels in their play from January onwards.

He added: “That’s a few years in a row we’ve went out to Dubai and mentally and physically, we’ve come back better. It’s a good wee break, it takes your head away from it a little bit while still putting the hard work in. We’ve always come back raring to go.

“Personally, I was on course to keep adding to my goal tally, I think I was one goal behind the best I’d hit before with a few games left, I was feeling good and I was really enjoying the season. A lot of the boys were having similar seasons as well.

“It’ll be strange to celebrate the title now, given we can’t be together. But I’m sure once this is all behind us, we’ll get the chance to meet up in person and reflect on what we’ve achieved.”

James Forrest: Broony is the key figure in our 9-in-a-row success