FRASER Forster will have the opportunity to impress Ralph Hasenhuttl after his time at Celtic came to an end.

The goalkeeper spent the 2019/20 season in Scotland and remained training the league champions until his loan deal expired on June 30.

But he’s now back in with a chance of fighting for a spot in Hasenhuttl’s side throughout pre-season as Celtic failed to stump up the cash to buy him on a permanent basis.

Hoops boss Neil Lennon was desperate for his club to tie down Forster to another deal and went on the record to say as much.

However, unless they come in with an offer that’s acceptable, the England international will be remaining at St Mary’s.

He still has two years remaining on his current Saints deal with it also being well known that he’s one of the club’s highest-ever earners.

Forster received plenty of plaudits during his year in Scotland, helping Celtic secure their ninth championship in a row as well as the League Cup.

His return to St Mary’s effectively means Hasenhuttl has three number one goalkeepers to choose from.

Angus Gunn started the season as first choice but was replaced by Alex McCarthy following a string of error-strewn performances.

It’s unlikely that Saints will want to start the 2020/21 season with the trio of shot-stoppers on the books.

This could pave the way for one of them to go out on loan in order to reduce the squad numbers.

The club’s attitude to this is entirely reasonable.

If another team comes in with an attractive offer to take Gunn, for example, they’ll sit down and listen to what’s said.

Forster hasn’t been a regular starter for Saints since he was dropped by ex-boss Mauricio Pellegrino back in December 2017.

The 32-year-old spent most of the 2018/20 season out of the picture until the final few weeks of the season.

An injury to McCarthy led to Forster being named on the bench for the club’s trip to Newcastle towards the end of April.

He was then handed his first start under Hasenhuttl for the final away game of the season at West Ham’s London Stadium.

The Austrian made a string of changes which resulted in a 3-1 defeat, although there wasn’t a lot Forster could do about the goals that were scored by the Hammers.