JOE HART and James McCarthy will be huge signings for Celtic according to James Forrest, with the winger saying their leadership will be a massive asset to Ange Postecoglou's team.

Hart was given his debut in the 4-2 win over FK Jablonec, while McCarthy will train with his new teammates for the first time at Lennoxtown today.

Forrest has been impressed by Hart already, and he thinks his presence will help the development of the young players within the Celtic squad.

“Joe Hart’s presence was massive, even when he came in for his first training session," Forrest said.

“I think they are great signings by the club and they’ll definitely help the changing room.

“It’s exciting that players of that quality and experience are coming in.

“It’s natural to take time with a new manager with different ideas. There are a lot of quality players at the club and a lot of the young boys have done well.

“But you just feel a difference with these two signings straight away. That’s not putting pressure on them because they’ve dealt with pressure all their careers.

“It’s just a massive boost. It’s really good for the senior lads. I think they’ll push us on.

“You look at their experience. We’ve got a lot of young, quality players but sometimes you need that experience.

“You could see it right from that first training session. You could hear him straight away, he was talking his way through the whole session.

“He’s a presence in the dressing room and you need that to bring out everyone in the team.

“We’ve not met McCarthey yet but we’ve all seen the experience he’s got from playing in England and for Ireland.

“He’ll be a great addition to the squad.