John Kennedy was delighted to see James Forrest score in his first start since returning from injury as Celtic swept aside Falkirk 3-0 in Scottish Cup.

Forrest was in the starting XI for the first time in almost seven months for Celtic’s third-round tie against Falkirk at Paradise, and the Hoops winger opened the scoring in the second half.

The visitors managed to go into the break at 0-0 despite having only a slither of possession and riding their luck with Celtic coming close to scoring on numerous occasions during the first 45 minutes.

Forrest gave Celtic the lead they thoroughly deserved early in the second half before Christie doubled the led two minutes later. The Hoops winger was replaced by Mohamed Elyounoussi with just over 15 minutes remaining and the Norwegian made it 3-0 with a wonderful finish shortly after his introduction.

Celtic interim manager John Kennedy singled Forrest out for praise after the game as he gave his thoughts on the 29-year-old’s first start since Celtic’s Europa League game against Riga back in September.

“It's great to have him back and good to get him on the scoresheet, “said John Kennedy.

'James has had a hard time. He works ever so hard and is one of the best professionals I’ve ever seen in terms of how he looks after his body and the work he puts into that.'

“As the game progressed I thought you saw him sharpening up. It was great for him to get a goal and he was unlucky not to get a second. He was frustrated at that but it’s great to have him back.”

John Kennedy admitted Celtic improved in the second half and summed up the result as an important win.

“The second half was good,” he said. “We weren’t happy with the first half. We had loads of control of the game in terms of possession but we were too rushed in the final third and never moved the ball well enough.

“We changed the shape just before half time to give us a bit more width. We did that to try and open them and create more space. As the game went on that happened. Once we tried them the spaces opened up and our quality came through in the end.”

John Kennedy praises James Forrest in Scottish Cup win over Falkirk