The 200-Club

Fraser Forster reached another appearance milestone recently, and the Celtic goalkeeper is aiming to continue building on his impressive tally of games

- Tony Connelly

FRASER Forster added another accolade to his list of Celtic career achievements just before the international break when he made his 200th appearance for the club. The Hoops goalkeeper admitted the record crept up on him but said experience has taught him to savour his successes more.

The recent game against Livingston was his milestone 200th appearance for the club he first joined more than nine years ago. It would have come far earlier but the Englishman’s talents attracted interest from down south and he made the move to Southampton in the summer of 2014.

The experience of playing in the English Premier League represented another career achievement for the 6ft7in stopper, but it did not dampen his desire to one day return to Celtic, and Neil Lennon brought Forster back to Paradise this summer on a season-long loan from Southampton.

With his focus fixed on the opponent in front of him, Forster was unaware of his appearance milestone. The magnitude of the record did not escape him, though, and he feels it serves as an indication that he’s on the right track.

“It’s always nice to reach those milestones,” said Forster in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “I’ve never set out to play a certain number of games, but when you tick them off and someone tells you that was your 200th game or your 100th clean-sheet, you’re always taken aback a bit. It’s great to make that many appearances for a club like this, and hopefully there’s many more to come.

“If you’re making that many appearances for a big club like Celtic you’re definitely doing something right and it’s a great achievement in and of itself. You always need to deliver on the pitch and on the training ground. That’s always the main focus.