Current BBC and BT Sport pundit Michael Stewart claimed he was ‘surprised’ by Neil Lennon’s decision to switch James Forrest out to the left-hand side last night.

On the 62nd minute of the game, Lennon substituted Greg Taylor for Jeremie Frimpong. The sub was a fullback for fullback but both play on the opposite side. As Frimpong made his way onto the pitch, many were left questioning what this meant to the current formation?

It turned out that Frimpong would go out into his usual position and James Forrest would be switched out to the left-hand side.

This left pundit, Michael Stewart, who was speaking on Sportsound a little confused due to the fact he felt Celtic should be trying to keep their width.

“I was surprised they didn’t recognise the need to go down those wider areas as much as possible. Getting into those one vs ones down the wide areas. Try to take the players on—That’s why I was surprised with the decision to put James Forrest over to the left-hand side.” Stewart told BBC Sportsound.

I must admit myself, at the time I was a little surprised he didn’t just remove Forrest and stick with either a more natural player out there, or bring on Jonny Hayes.

However, in the end, this decision did look like a pretty decent one. Even though he still wasn’t at his best, he was looking to take on Livingston fullback, Steve Lawson, more than Greg Taylor, had for the hour or so he had played. And with the injection that Frimpong brought down the right, it seemed like a good move from Lennon.

In the end, the last minute equaliser came from down the left hand side, mostly down to the work of Odsonne Edouard. But you can see Forrest is right out on the touchline, creating some of the space for the Frenchman to run into.

Even though Stewart might have been ‘surprised’, it was certainly no surprise to Neil Lennon the impact both Forrest and Frimpong had for the last 30 minutes.

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