Joe Lolley news: Nottingham Forest star needs assistance but must also find form answers himself

Add as preferred source on Google

The sight of Joe Lolley wheeling away in celebration at Blackburn was a welcome one for Nottingham Forest.

And not just because he had restored parity at Ewood Park.

The man with a wand of a left foot has been seeking a spark in 2019-20.

Two goals in back-to-back outings against Stoke and Rovers will hopefully have provided it.

Forest need that to be the case.

Recent history dictates that having Lolley firing on all cylinders makes the Reds a markedly different proposition.

They have fared admirably in covering a dip in form this season.

To be sat inside the top six with only one defeat on the board speaks volumes for the collective effort.

Key men are, however, billed as such for a reason.

Vital

Lolley is vital to the cause and to have him back among the goals is a notable step in the right direction.

There have been times when he has looked a little rusty.

A trademark step inside of a marker or burst down the flanks has not been seen as often as many would have liked, or hoped for.

There was, however, a jink and long-range thunderbolt on Tuesday night.

To go with the composed volley from close range in the Potteries.

Lolley has once again found a way of impacting proceedings when shackled by those lining up against him.

Forest legend Garry Birtles has said in the Nottingham Post: “A big thing with Lolley is that teams have worked out how to defend against him a lot of the time. They know he is generally going to look to cut in from the right and get a shot away.

“They double up on him to stop him doing that so easily. It’s a show of respect to recognise what a good player he is.

“When that happens, he has to work out a new way to be as dangerous as he was last season. That is on him, but it’s also on his teammates.

“By that I mean, they can make good runs to free up space for him, but more pertinently, they have to have more goal threats in form.”

Birtles is right to suggest that Lolley requires assistance, but he also has to work out the puzzle himself.

Advice

__VIDEO__

If defenders are onto him, then a Plan B needs to be pieced together.

He is good enough and smart enough to know that there is more than one way to skin a full-back.

The 27-year-old told the Post earlier this season when asked what Forest need in order to be competitive: “Confidence. We need to believe that we can do it. It’s just little details.”

Those words of advice apply as much to him as an individual as they do to those around him.

Belief is big in professional sport.

Especially for those whose game is all about end product.

Lolley knows he is capable, he has delivered on numerous occasions in the past.

He has got back on track of late and will hope to have entered a timely purple patch.

Championship rivals are going to continue keeping a close eye on him – he is a marked man!

It is now up to No.23 to deliver his best Houdini act and prove that he can shake the shackles while escaping in the shadows down an avenue that nobody saw coming.