Nottingham Forest defender Jordan Gabriel is busy learning his trade at League One outfit Blackpool and is doing relatively well.
On Saturday he enjoyed arguably his finest performance since moving to Bloomfield Road against Harrogate Town in the FA Cup.
Gabriel scored his first senior goal in the 4-0 win, helping the Tangerines set up a third round tie with Premier League outfit West Brom.
The defender has now started six games in all competitions for Blackpool, operating in his usual right-back position..
Neil Critchley is known for developing young players and that should bode well for Forest in the long run.
The 22-year-old did well on Saturday and earned himself rave reviews from the Blackpool Gazette.
Journalist Matt Scrafton was at the game and afterwards in the player ratings piece, he wrote: “Ran the length of the field to tap home Blackpool’s third and his first goal for the club. Solid and steady.”
Could Gabriel earn another Forest opportunity?
It may have come as a surprise to Gabriel to find himself out on loan after starting the season in the Forest team.
The academy graduate started the Carabao Cup game at Barnsley and also the first league game of the season against QPR.
He was then loaned out to aid his development, with Forest signing Cyrus Christie on loan from Fulham for the season.
The best thing for Gabriel’s development is for him to be playing games and he should get plenty of that at Bloomfield Road.
Forest rate Gabriel highly and with Christie only on loan, he will hope to impress Chris Hughton when he returns to the City Ground.
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