21
Forrest:
We’re in it
together
Hearts ace vows to help team pick up points
By NIGEL DUNCAN
ATTACKING MIDFIELDER Alan Forrest
arrived at Hearts three years ago fully aware of
the scrutiny he would be under as a player and
the pressure the club would be subjected to from
success-hungry fans. He had a burning ambition
to develop his career and he still has.
The 27-year-old knew that if things were going
well following his move from Livingston there
would be plaudits but, conversely, if he or the
club was going through an indifferent period
then the pressure would rack up.
MENTALLY PREPARED
Prestwick-born Forrest was fully prepared
mentally for what lay ahead and he has now
played in more than 40 games for the Jambos,
scoring six goals.
The Scotland under-21 cap remains
ambitious as well as being realistic and he said:
“Any player at any level will know if they are
doing well or if they are having sticky moments.
I like the pressure.”
It is, he conceded, difficult to please everybody,
but his aim is to go into every game and
contribute “as best I can”, whether scoring or
assisting. He added: “That’s all I’m looking at,
trying to help the team. Whatever comes of that
comes of that.”
Looking back, a teenage Forrest started his
senior career close to home with Ayr United and
he made an instant impression, making his debut
in a Scottish Challenge Cup match against
Queen’s Park.
He came off the bench to score after 89
minutes and become Ayr’s youngest ever
goalscorer. He was 16.
Forrest then made 197 appearances for the
Championship side, scoring 48 goals in a spell
from 2013 to 2020. Livingston came calling in
2020 and he made 62 appearances for the West
Lothian combine, scoring on nine occasions.
His exploits did not go unnoticed in the
corridors of power at Tynecastle and the 5ft 9in
tall player made the short move along the M8 to
the capital. Forrest, whose older brother plays for
Celtic, has not been a constant fixture for Hearts’
first team.
However, his stunning strike in horrible
conditions from outside the box in the recent
Derby with Hibs at Tynecastle showed his
potential and the goal will live long in the
memory of those who were there.
Forrest is anxious, as all footballers are, for
more game time, but he firmly believes Steven
Naismith’s Hearts have competed this season,
even in games against the Old Firm.
Their style of play that has evolved through
hours of planning and hard work in training
sessions at Riccarton and the “Naisey way”, he
believes, is one that will succeed for the
Tynecastle team in the long-term.
There have been bumps along the way, like the
defeat by Rangers in the Viaplay Scottish League
Cup semi-final when he was on the Hampden
pitch for 29 minutes, and the 4-1 home defeat to
Celtic, but, asked if morale had been dented in
recent defeats to the Old Firm, he admitted:
“Losing games is not ideal, you are not going to
be buzzing.
“There has been a good reaction in training.
Everyone is pulling together, everyone is here for
the same reason and there are positives to take. It
is about us sticking together and we know in this
league it is tight.”STAYING POSITIVE
He remained up-beat about future prospects for
the Gorgie club and stressed: “We know we are
not too far away, but we need to all pull together
and get some wins.”
The fans would love that but Forrest has been
in the game long enough as a professional and
he knows it is easier to talk about succeeding
than to achieve.
He said: “We know we are capable, we have
players in the dressing room, but it is about us
getting points on the board.”
He desperately wants to see Hearts go on a run
and he acknowledged that players and managers
do come under criticism when results don’t go
to plan.
“We’ve had games in which we have played
well,” he said. Take the Edinburgh Derby, that is a
game he felt Hearts should have won and it was
hard playing Rangers and Celtic in a
concentrated period.
The experienced professional said: “Results are
going to be scrutinised at a club like this, but
teams outwith Rangers and Celtic can go on a
good run.”Alan Forrest training
with his Hearts
team matesNigel Duncan