Nottingham Forest take on Reading tomorrow afternoon looking to get back to winning ways after suffering back-to-back defeats against Wigan Athletic and Hull City.
The Reds have recently slipped to eighth position in the Championship, but are still only four points behind league leaders West Bromwich Albion. Sabri Lamouchi’s men will be desperate to put things right on Saturday.
Forest made four changes against Hull and the players introduced to the starting line-up failed to have the desired effect, with the Reds arguably producing a performance worse to the one they produced at Wigan.
Tomorrow is a big game for the Reds, and Lamouchi, who is remarkably coming under criticism from some supporters already.
One man who could line-up against Forest at the City Ground will be a familiar face to the majority of supporters from last season.
Flop
Tuncará Gomes, known as Pelé, spent the second-half of last season on loan at the City Ground under the management of Martin O’Neill. The 28-year-old only made eight appearances for the Reds in the Championship.
It’s fair to say he didn’t live up to the excitement generated by his arrival on loan from Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco.
According to Get French Football News, Pelé cost Monaco £4.2 million from Rio Ave last summer.
The midfielder was given a second-chance to prove he has what it takes to be a success in the Championship this summer. He joined Reading on a season-long loan at the beginning of August.
He has already made 10 appearances in all competitions for the Royals this season. The appointment of Mark Bowen doesn’t seem to have scuppered his first-team chances, as he’s featured in both of his two games in charge so far.
There’s no doubt that Pelé did have show glimpses of his potential during his time at Forest. He produced a number of sublime performances but wasn’t able to find any sort of consistency.
Forest will be hoping that the midfielder doesn’t return to the City Ground and prove the club wrong for not extending his stay.
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