Hoops defender Kieran Tierney has revealed that he hates playing against James Forrest in training given the trickery of the Celtic winger.

Forrest has been one of Celtic’s best performers this term but remains one of the unsung heroes in Brendan Rodgers’ squad.

With Patrick Roberts having returned to Manchester City for treatment on a hamstring tear – an injury that is expected to keep him for three months – Forrest can expect to be handed further responsibility under Rodgers over the coming weeks.

Read more: Celtic captain Scott Brown ready to make history against Anderlecht

“Ever since I started training with the first team, he has been brilliant,” said Tierney. “And, for me, he is so hard to play against in training. I know how good he is.

“It shows you how hard he has been working to get that number of goals already this season. To come off the bench and score two was brilliant.

“James has incredible fitness to get forward and back for a whole 90 minutes. He is always at it.

“I know myself that he is very hard to stop when he is running at you because he can go inside or outside. Defenders don’t like that at all.”

Read more: Celtic steady themselves as they prepare to book Europa League place​

And Tierney has also maintained that Roberts will come back stronger than before having suffered two successive hamstring problems.

“I have been there myself and being told you will be out for a few months is not easy to take, especially when you have just come back from a couple of weeks out,” said the Scotland internationalist.

“But that is what happens in football and knows that. He is obviously disappointed but I’m sure he will come back stronger than ever.

“I’ll do my best to help him through it. You need to take your mind off it and work on other stuff. When I was out, I had to work on my upper body – just to get better as an all-round player.

“I’m sure he will do similar because his work ethic is brilliant. You will see that when he comes back.”

Read more: Celtic v Motherwell: how the Hoops rated

Meanwhile, Tierney is relishing tomorrow night’s Champions League clash against Anderlecht at Celtic Park.

“We want to go out and win every single game,” he said. “This will be a high-pressure game for both teams, but it is another challenge and another Champions League night at Celtic Park. That’s what the players love.

“It was a brilliant victory [on Saturday], especially the way we kicked on and scored another few after they got the goal back.”

And Tierney, too, had special praise for hat-trick kid Odsonne Edouard.

“Odsonne was brilliant,” he enthused. “He was up against physical centre-backs and I think he actually got the better of them physically. Cedric Kipre is really strong but Odsonne was brilliant against him.

“He has been great in training and been working hard. He has obviously had limited chances but he is still young. He got a chance against Hamilton and got a goal before the hat-trick today. It was fully deserved and everyone is really happy for him. I don’t have any French to speak to him - my English isn’t even that good!”