Celtic loanee Fraser Forster says he would love to force his way back into the England set up and has refused to rule out making his switch to Parkhead permanent. The stopper joined the Scottish giants from Southampton on a season-long loan earlier in the week as he attempts to get his career back on track.

He returns to the club where he made his name, having made 197 appearances for the Bhoys between 2010 and 2014, before leaving to link up with Saints in a £10million deal. Forster was a hit in the Premier League initially but he lost his starting berth in 2017-18 and was restricted to just one league outing in 2018-19.

A lack of regular football saw Forster overlooked by England and he hasn’t featured for the national side since May 2016. Competition for places between the sticks is strong in Gareth Southgate’s squad but Forster has a desire to fight his way back into contention. “It’s all in other people’s hands,” said Forster.

“All I can do is try and play as well as I can here. “Obviously it would be a dream to get back onto the England set up but I can’t control that. First and foremost, I just want to get back playing and enjoying my football.”

The 31-year-old is contracted to Southampton until 2022 but admits he would be open to joining Celtic permanently if his loan spell is successful. He added: “Yeah, definitely. I’d never, ever rule that out. Obviously, I just want to concentrate week-by-week to begin with. But if we have a great year, ultimately, it would come down to the two clubs working it out somehow.

“You want to be here as much as you can, so I definitely wouldn’t rule that out. It would be a fantastic thing if that could happen, although that would be out of my hands and there is a lot of football to be played before then.”

Celtic can be backed at 1.25 to win on Sunday when they host Hearts, who are priced at 12.00 to take all three points, while the draw is available at 6.00. (Read breaking football news here)