Nottingham Forest have possibly been dealt a blow ahead of Saturday’s home game with Bristol City as the referee was announced for the contest.
The game at the City Ground will be overseen by none other than Keith Stroud who Forest will remember for all the wrong reasons.
Hampshire-based official, Stroud, last refereed Forest during their 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion back in February.
(Photo; James Chance; Getty Images)
Quite simply, the 52-year-old had a shocker of a performance that day.
He failed to send off Jake Livermore early doors after a high challenge and Yuri Ribeiro and his performance worsened from there.
Sammy Ameobi was clearly fouled whilst on the attack with the scoreline at 1-1 but Stroud waved play on – much to the dismay of the Forest players and management.
Callum Robinson proceeded to go down the other end and his cross saw Tobias Figueiredo poke the ball into his own goal, restoring the Baggies’ lead.
Forest did rescue a late equaliser through Matty Cash but the performance of the referee is one that will live long in the memory of supporters.
Stroud only oversaw seven more Championship matches last season after that showing at the Hawthorns.
He has done one Championship fixture so far this season. That came on the opening weekend of the season when he refereed Watford’s home game against Middlesbrough.
Bad omen
During his career as a referee, Stroud has refereed Forest on 24 occasions. Of those games, just five have been wins for the Reds with seven of them finishing level and Forest losing on 12 occasions.
(Photo; Mick Walker; CameraSport via Getty Images)
This Saturday looks like a big game for Sabri Lamouchi who desperately needs to see his team find the way to goal after four games without scoring.
Forest will hope the discussions don’t revolve around Stroud’s performance at 4:45 on Saturday evening.