Ange Postecoglou gives James Forrest Scotland fitness verdict and asks Celtic players to blank fallout from Rangers defeat

Both Forrest and Taylor missed Celtic’s defeat to Rangers yesterday through injury, and Postecoglou doesn’t think they will be fit to join Steve Clarke’s squad for the matches against Denmark, Austria and Moldova.

“I would say unlikely [that James Forrest will make it],” Postecoglou said.

“He was close [for Ibrox]. We had him in the squad. He trained yesterday and he just didn’t feel 100 per cent. It is a long season and we didn’t want to unnecessarily throw him in there. I was hopeful. As of [Sunday] morning he was still in the squad and we had to pull him out.

“Again, I would say unlikely [that Greg Taylor will be fit], but I will leave that to the medical teams. Greg wasn’t ready [on Sunday] so I think unlikely.”

Meanwhile, Postecoglou has told his players they must remain focused on improving and try to block out the fallout from their defeat to Rangers.

“The reaction could be big from people other than our fans,” he said. “But in terms of our fans, we’re disappointed with what happened here, but they can see what we’re trying to build and what we’re trying to put out here.

“It’s not going to be game of the month, that’s for sure. But think there have been some positive signs over the last few weeks. It is just disappointing today that we weren’t able to capitalise on it.

“I thought it was a tight game. It was a derby game, there were not a lot of chances, not a lot of open spaces. The first goal was always going to be important. We didn’t take our opportunities when we had them.

“I don’t think there was any team that held too much dominance at any time. There wasn’t a lot of chances. We had the better of them in terms of clear cut ones.

“I thought the players handled it okay. Derby games, particularly in this kind of circumstance where it is the first one where fans are back in, are going to be tight. The first goal was always going to be critical.”