Alex Mighten must use England call-up as catalyst for more first-team chances at Nottingham Forest

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Nottingham Forest youngster Alex Mighten has once again earned international recognition after he was called up to the England under-18 squad.

The 17-year-old featured in three games for the under-18s back in September. He netted a hat-trick in the game against Australia and also got more minutes under his belt against Brazil and South Korea.

Since Mighten’s last venture to represent his country he has made his first-team debut for Forest. The teenager played the last 12 minutes as the Reds were beaten 5-0 by Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.

The left-winger looks set for a bright future and is already a regular for the club’s under-23 outfit.

Another chance to link-up with Ian Foster’s Young Lions can only do wonders for Mighten’s confidence and he should look to use it as a catalyst to earn more opportunities in Sabri Lamouchi’s first-team.

The Forest boss will cast an intriguing eye towards the young Forest performer as he prepares to face Slovakia, Poland and Austria over the next fortnight.

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Mighten will have gained so much confidence from featuring for the first-team at Arsenal and he will be keen to feature more between now and the end of the season.

Opportunity knocks

Chances might come sparingly this season with the versatile forward with Lamouchi boasting a plethora of proven Championship performers in his squad.

That said, Lamouchi has proved in his short time at the club that the pathway for youngsters to make the step-up to the first-team is clear. Brennan Johnson has featured a few times so far during the campaign and there are no qualms with academy players being unleashed on the first-team.

Academy director Gary Brazil will undoubtedly feel a sense of pride following another Mighten call-up. Indeed,  it is fair to say that he would be a good bet to be the next cab off the rank from the academy ranks.