James Forrest is ready to embrace the silence and treat every Premiership match like a Champions League qualifier.
The Celtic winger is facing up to a new challenge of playing competitive fixtures behind closed doors.
The nine-in-a-row champions face Hamilton in the season opener on Sunday. And Forrest reckons his team-mates will have no problem adapting to the new normal because they’ve been over the course and distance before in Europe.
He said: “We just need to deal with it and concentrate on winning matches and playing entertaining football for the fans watching at home.
“It’s a different atmosphere of course but if we relate it to some of the European qualifiers we’ve played over the years that are further afield – Kazakhstan, Gibraltar, Sarajevo, for example – these venues all had totally different atmospheres. So this set-up is just another situation we need to adjust to. We just need to ensure we win it at the end of the day.
“The schedule is different but it’s exciting. We’ve got big games and different competitions to look forward to.
“They’re in a bit of a different order this year, but we’re just delighted to be back in among the games and can’t wait to get going again in this season ahead.”
Forrest was speaking in the Celtic programme. The print version is available to buy online, with the digital version available free to all Celtic season ticket holders ahead of the match. For further details check out reachsportshop.com/team/celticfc
