Lennon: Forster progress is my biggest success
The giant Geordie has been a personal project for the Celtic boss who twice signed Forster on loan before paying out £1.5m to make the move from Newcastle permanent.
Despite the sneering of many in England the Celtic keeper is now challenging Joe Hart to be first choice with Lennon delighted by Forster’s progress.
“He (Forster) will be disappointed by the result but I don’t think that there is a lot that he could have done about either of the goals,” the Celtic boss stated.
“It’s probably one of the best things I’ve been involved in with management- getting a player who was third choice at Newcastle and now he is playing for England.
“I liked his presence, Paul Lambert had him at Norwich and recommended him to me, Alan Thompson knew him from his time at Newcastle and we’ve worked and worked on him.
“For a big guy he works very hard on his agility all the time to fill up the goal. When he makes saves his big arms bat the ball away, his performances in the Champions League have been one of the main reasons for our success in the last two seasons.”
Looking at the wider international scene the Celtic boss added: “We had good news last night with Nigeria qualifying so Efe Ambrose will be going to the World Cup.
“We’ve got a few already there and Samaras and Lustig still have opportunities to get there.
“While it’s worrying it’s very important for the players- there are two ends of the spectrum. Some come back full of it and others need to be picked up when they come back on the end of a disappointing result.
“We encourage them all to go away with their countries, it’s very important for them. Some of them are very patriotic, they love playing for their countries but my worry is that they travel so far away these days.
“I’m not getting them back till Thursday or Friday and only get one day to work with them before the game at the weekend.”