THE Ange Postecoglou revolution at Celtic has seen wholesale changes at the club, but there are a few things that remain reassuringly familiar. When Celtic are in need of a spot of inspiration, they can always call on James Forrest.

He may still have the look of a fresh-faced youth, but his medal collection at Celtic is as good as anybody’s. And he clearly has a thirst for more. As has seemed the case since time immemorial, he just has a knack for coming up with the big moment when it matters.

The winger entered a right old slog of a League Cup semi-final against a dogged St Johnstone outfit with a little over 20 minutes to go. Within five minutes, he had the ball in the net, and he had Celtic into the first final of Postecoglou’s reign at the first attempt.

It may not have been the show that captain Callum McGregor had asked to be put on in tribute of Bertie Auld, but the result would no doubt have drawn that trademark grin from 'Ten-Thirty' nonetheless.

The Celtic support may have preferred to have been at home in the first game since the death of Auld, but such was the split of support, they may as well have been.

Those fans certainly did their bit to pay tribute to the sadly departed Lisbon Lion, with a large display behind the goal spelling out his name and a loud ovation capping off a rapturous minute of applause. Their team, each with the number 10 displayed on their shorts, couldn’t quite match that spectacular showing on the pitch, but they got the job done.

St Johnstone full-back Shaun Rooney was the undisputed hero of Hampden last season, scoring the winning goal in both cup finals, but this game looked to be an altogether tougher assignment for him early doors.

He had his hands full with Jota from the off, the winger getting in behind on several occasions early on and even producing a peach of a cross from a rabona that would have produced the opening goal but for a diligent piece of defending from Murray Davidson.

Saints had struggled to get a kick in those early stages, but a moment of indecision from Joe Hart almost gave them the opener.

Stephen Welsh squared the ball to his keeper and Michael O’Halloran chased the pass. Hart had time, but dithered and dallied to the extent that his clearance ended up cannoning off the sliding Saints forward, and the ball ricocheted inches wide. Lucky Bhoy.

St Johnstone appeared to have weathered the early storm as the match hit a bit of a lull, but it took two Saints defenders throwing themselves in front of Liel Abada’s effort to retain parity as Celtic looked to crank it up as we approached the interval.

They were being knocked out of their rhythm by Saints though, and indeed, a snapshot from Chris Kane gave Hart something to think about as it flashed a foot wide of his left-hand post.

There was a blow to St Johnstone at the start of the second half as David Wotherspoon jarred his knee on the Hampden turf. He was able to hobble off to be replaced by Ali Crawford, which is hopefully an encouraging sign.

The match was following the same pattern as it had since around the 10th minute, with Celtic dominating the ball but being frustrated in trademark St Johnstone fashion. With the Celtic full-backs tucking in, Saints were happy to pack the middle of the pitch and allow them to turn into traffic.

Celtic captain McGregor was struggling to influence the game in his usual manner playing in a more advanced midfield role, while Bitton at number six wasn’t moving the ball quick enough. Jota had fallen out of the game, while Abada had barely been in it.

It was no surprise then to see Celtic manager Postecoglou calling for Forrest, with the winger replacing Abada on the right to a rousing reception.

The Celtic support tried to rouse their team in fact, unveiling a huge image of Auld on 67 minutes as they sang the Lisbon Lions song, though the addition of fireworks may well land their club in a spot of bother yet again.

Would it inspire fireworks on the field though? You bet it would.

A sliced clearance from Zander Clark was seized upon by Jota, who drove to the byline and fired across the six-yard box. Jamie McCart contorted his body to clear, but it ricocheted off the arm of the frantically retreating Callum Booth and bounced up invitingly. Who was first on the scene? That man Forrest, who slammed home on the volley.

Rooney’s frustration might have earned him a red card moments later as he elbowed Welsh plum in the jaw as he challenged for a header, but he saw yellow while Welsh left the action seeing stars. Bitton moved back to centre-half, with James McCarthy coming on.

The midfielder hasn’t looked up to speed since coming back to Scotland in the summer, and he almost gifted the Saints an immediate equaliser with a slack square ball across his own box, Josip Juranovic having to look sharp to bail him out.

Davidson made two changes of his own as he went for broke, but neither Liam Craig nor Eetu Vertainen could inspire another glorious Hampden moment for their side. They can rightly be proud of their defence of the trophy, though. And they have their defence of the Scottish Cup to come.

No doubt Forrest will have something to say about that, too.