Nottingham Forest starlet Brennan Johnson hopes to progress through Wales ranks

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Nottingham Forest sensation Brennan Johnson has told BBC Sport of his desire to keep continue progressing through the Wales ranks.

The news will come as a bombshell to England boss Gareth Southgate who had been keen to tempt Johnson into switching allegiances to the Three Lions (The Mirror).

Johnson is currently on Wales under-21 duty and will hope to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night. Earlier in his career, he played for the England ranks at under-16 and under-17 level.

The 18-year-old has broken into the Forest first-team this season under Sabri Lamochi. He has made two substitute appearances in the league and started twice in the Carabao Cup.

During the last month, he has been a regular in Lamouchi’s matchday squad and looks set for a really bright future.

Right now, however, his focus is on Wales and it’s something he cares deeply about doing.

He told BBC Sport: “I did play for England but I can’t fault Wales. It’s been really good. Wales have made me feel at home and I am loving playing for them.

“I am enjoying coming away with the under-21s and hopefully things can progress further. Hopefully, I can keep making my family proud.”

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Brennan’s dad, David, had a near miss when it came to playing for Wales during his own playing career. He played four times for Jamaica in the end but the Forest youngster confesses that he has his dad’s support.

He continued: “It would have been nice if he had played for them as well.

“But he has liked seeing me play for Wales. He has been to watch the games and he is really happy with me playing for Wales.”

Nottingham Forest News view – Johnson can use Wales opportunity to impress Lamouchi further

With the Forest youngster now part of the first-team picture, his game time has been restricted for the under-23 outfit at the City Ground.

With that in mind, he must use his latest Wales call-up as the perfect chance to get his eye back in and get into his stride.

Johnson is quite clearly going to be a star of the future and he has done magnificently well to break into the first-team already.

The 18-year-old will now that he is still a work in progress, however, and playing well for Wales next week can provide the catalyst for more opportunities.