Brice Samba has been a breath of fresh air at Nottingham Forest, with the Congolese providing the answer to a long-standing positional poser.
That being, who deserves to start in goal?
Costel Pantilimon was the established first choice for the best part of 18 months, with the towering Romanian earning favour under Aitor Karanka and Martin O’Neill.
He has, however, endured a humbling tumble down the pecking order.
His loss has been Samba’s gain.
A summer signing has slotted seamlessly into the fold on Trentside.
It appeared early on as though he may have to be patient in pursuit of regular game time.
A shaky start to 2019-20 by Aro Muric, though, quickly saw a door swing open.
Samba nipped through, closed it behind him and turned the key.
Bolted
Keeping the back door bolted is very much one of his strengths.
Across his eight appearances in all competitions, four clean sheets have been collected.
Stoke are the only side to have breached him on more than one occasion, and even that game finished in a 3-2 win for Forest.
For the most part, Samba has been the most reliable last lines of defence.
And it has been some time since the Reds have been able to place somebody into that category.
Yes, Pantilimon fared admirably, but those in the stands never felt entirely assured by his presence.
Those fears are long gone.
Samba is well on his way to earning cult hero status on Trentside.
And that is because his displays have him sat at the top of a notable Championship table.
One that any shot-stopper would like to dominate.
Saves
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The one regarding keeping the ball out of the net!
Since making his Championship debut against Swansea on August 24, nobody has proved more adept at that than Samba in the English second tier.
Over the course of six league outings, Samba has pulled off 25 saves.
Kelle Roos of Derby is next on the list with 22, while Christian Walton and Daniel Bentley of Blackburn and Bristol City respectively are the only others to reach 20.
No member of that trio can, however, claim to get anywhere near Samba’s save percentage of 83.33.
Leeds No.1, Kiko Casilla, boasts the same return, but has not been as busy with only 15 saves required.
Last season, Pantilimon only managed 73.02, so Samba would have to suffer a serious dip in order to slip back towards one of his predecessors between the posts.
There has been no indication that a wobble is coming.
Samba has been solid as a rock and is now looking to help Forest join him at the top of Championship standings before domestic action shuts down again in the international break.
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