James Forrest has been one of the most under-rated Celtic players but has become one of their most consistent performers in recent years.

If the winger maintains his form then I do think this could be the year for him to go on and take that Player of the Year title.

The goals are one thing – and I thought his entire performance against St Johnstone was excellent – but he brings so much to way the team plays.

Last season he had Patrick Roberts breathing down his neck and I think many of us felt that his performance level came up in response to that competition. But he has maintained it so far this season.

Last year when Roberts was injured for much of the campaign, he wasn’t missed too much purely because of the form of Forrest.

I thought he was really sensational against St Johnstone but I also felt that he was one of the few who really did well over in Austria against Salzburg last week too. I know he was sent off – and for which I felt he was a wee bit unlucky – but he was the guy whom the defence could turn to in order to alleviate some of the pressure that they were under.

At 27, he still has so many years ahead of him in the game but he is just hitting peak form.

The start of his career was hindered by various muscle injuries, as is so often the case with players who have an acceleration about them, but really in recent seasons he has been the mainstay of the starting line-up.

Although Forrest still looks as though he is 17, there is a great maturity about his play.

And what you are getting just now is that ability married to the confidence that comes from playing well.

And the thing that I always think about him is that he looks like a guy who is all about the team. He puts in a shift on that flank as he works up and down but he is also the kind of player that you appreciate playing alongside because he does so much.

As I say, I just wonder if this is the year when he gets a wee bit of recognition that his performances deserve.

And I have to say too that last weekend’s display for me offered a reminder of just how well Celtic can play when everyone is on song.

I have never really been into talk of dressing room splits and all the rest of the garbage that we heard last week. In my experience you might get a fall-out or whatever but in football it tends to be sorted out relatively swiftly.

A good manager doesn’t allow anything to fester.

I don’t know if the performance against St Johnstone was a message in terms of the unity within the dressing room but it certainly served as a reminder of what Celtic have got and how they are capable of playing.

After this current international break there is another busy block of games looming and I suspect that the game against Hibs at Celtic Park will be an intriguing one given how well Neil Lennon has the Leith side playing.

The Europa League game against Leipzig which follows on from that is also massive. All the signs suggest that it is going to be a fight between Celtic and the Germans to see who finishes second to progress to the knockout stages.

If Celtic can nick a point over there then it could be pretty substantial when it comes to strengthening their case for progression.

The one thing they have struggled for this term is consistency as a team. The ambition I am sure now will be to build on the level of performance that came before the break and utilise it to engineer a decent run of games.

Once you get that momentum you develop the winning habit, as we have seen from Celtic so often over the last two seasons.