Rob Maclean: James Forrest no longer a support act at Celtic

James Forrest curled home the opening goal in Celtic's 2-0 League Cup final win over Motherwell on Sunday

Commentator Rob Maclean provides his take on another weekend of Scottish football action.

Winger Forrest taking centre stage

James Forrest has been a support act at Celtic for a long time. Now he's centre stage as one of the stars of the show.

Gone, it seems, are the days when all you were getting from the Prestwick-born paceman was half a season because of a succession of injuries.

• Celtic beat Motherwell in League Cup Final

Celtic academy product Forrest has always had the attacking talent. That's been patently obvious since he made his first team debut seven-and-a-half years ago.

But his career was stop-start until the arrival of Brendan Rodgers. Funny that.

There's a long list of Celtic players who've been reinvented since the managerial change and Forrest is a prime example

For him, the bigger the match the better now. He was outstanding against Bayern Munich at Celtic Park in the Champions League and man of the match in Sunday's League Cup final win over Motherwell.

Forrest is now almost impossible to leave out.

Points are king as Hamilton defy critics

Hammering Hamilton is a dangerous game. They have a happy habit of flinging a custard pie in the face of their critics.

The latest flak flying in their direction came from Hibs manager Neil Lennon, who reckoned his team were "kicked all over the park" in the 1-1 draw at Hamilton on Saturday.

• 'Accies don't tackle, they just kick' - Lennon

His criticism was aimed at referee Don Robertson for his handling of the game, rather than the Accies' approach, but it was yet more proof of the ability of the perennial relegation favourites to annoy bigger-budget opposition.

Recently, they've also managed to get under the skin of Aberdeen and Rangers, among others, during an impressive five-match unbeaten run which has moved them five points away from the bottom of the Premiership.

Martin Canning and his team will happily settle for points over popularity.

Class act Allan could be the difference for Dundee

If Scott Allan can stay fit, Dundee could be on the road to recovery.

The injury-plagued playmaker couldn't have made a quicker impression in Friday night's 2-1 win over Rangers at Dens Park as he bounced off the bench to set up the winning goal.

Those were his first touches of the match, threading the ball into a tightly-packed penalty box for Mark O'Hara to complete a double that hauled Dundee off bottom spot in the league.

Everyone knows Allan is a classy operator but he's struggled with injury since touching down on Tayside.

If the on-loan Celtic midfielder can become a regular feature in Neil McCann's team and find his best form, Dundee can keep themselves out of the Premiership drop zone.

Angry Clarke demands higher standards at Killie

There's been little need for snarling from Stevie Clarke so far as the recently-installed Kilmarnock manager has overseen a steady improvement in performances.

There were draws at Celtic Park and Ibrox plus a win against Hearts at Murrayfield and, even in losing to Hibs, there were plenty of positives.

But that Clarke-inspired progress came to a shuddering halt at Rugby Park on Sunday as Killie stood back and watched Aberdeen take a two-goal lead inside 12 minutes from which the hosts never recovered.

• Kilmarnock 1-3 Aberdeen

• Clarke's brands Killie's start "disgraceful"

The Dons were dynamic in that opening spell. But the Killie gaffer had another D-word for the way his players started the match. Disgraceful.

And they'll be seeing another side to Stevie, I would imagine, as their winless league run on their home patch this season stretches into December.