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Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 21
Dec 29, 2019 at 12.30pm UK
 
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1-2

Edouard (42')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Kent (36'), Katic (56')

James Forrest: 'League Cup win will have little effect against Rangers'

James Forrest: 'League Cup win will have little effect against Rangers'
© Reuters
The Hoops beat Rangers 1-0 at Hampden Park earlier in the month.

James Forrest acknowledged the virtues of Celtic's recent Betfred Cup final win over Rangers but minimised its possible effect on Sunday's Old Firm clash.

The Hoops winger insists the 1-0 win over the Light Blues at Hampden Park earlier in the month revealed another side to the champions, who go into the last Ladbrokes Premiership fixture of 2019 at Parkhead five points clear of their Ibrox rivals albeit having played a game more.

Hampden, however, is still fresh on the mind.

Three minutes after French defender Christopher Jullien opened the scoring for the Hoops against the run of play in the second half, the champions were reduced to 10 men when teenage defender Jeremie Frimpong was sent off before goalkeeper Fraser Forster saved Alfredo Morelos' penalty.

Neil Lennon's side held out for their 10th successive trophy win.

Forrest, who scored his 14th goal of the season in the 2-1 win over St Mirren on Boxing Day, said: "After the cup final everyone was buzzing and felt really good about ourselves.

"When we play well and win, it is obviously good but sometimes you have an off day but still win, you have that winning mentality, you find ways to win.

"That is really good that we have that side to the game as well

"If you play in a cup final you would rather play well and win but at the end of the day when you manage to get over the line and win, that's all that matters.

"But apart from the cup final, I don't think that will mean much.

"This is a different game. We are at home.

"It is going to be a difficult game but we are looking forward to it.

"They are always games you look forward to, obviously the fans and players look forward to it, the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable.

"Just hopefully we can give our fans something to shout about.

"We are going to have to play at our best to get three points."

Celtic have won 11 in a row in the league, while qualifying for the last-32 of the Europa League where they will play FC Copenhagen next year and the Scotland international admits: "The confidence is so high among the players and staff, the club as a whole."

He said:  "Obviously the league has been really good up until now but we are only halfway through the season and the manager and staff always want us to improve and get better.

"We need to come out on Sunday with a good performance and hopefully get a good result."

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Alfredo Morelos in action for Rangers on December 12, 2019
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
Championship Group
1Celtic220085275884
2RangersRangers220078255381
3Hearts20114637963
4Kilmarnock20114438652
5St Mirren21014246-446
6Dundee20024659-1341
Relegation Group
1Hibernian21014854-642
2Aberdeen22003749-1241
3Motherwell21015053-340
4Ross County21013459-2533
5St Johnstone20022550-2531
RLivingston21012563-3821
 
First Phase
1Celtic33246380265478
2RangersRangers33243672234975
3Hearts33195946341262
4Kilmarnock33131284334951
5St Mirren33127143843-543
6Dundee331011124454-1041
7Hibernian33912124451-739
8Motherwell33813124651-537
9Aberdeen33811143549-1435
10St Johnstone33710162446-2231
11Ross County3379173256-2430
RLivingston3339212259-3718


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