Nottingham Forest gem Jordan Gabriel got more minutes on Tuesday night as Blackpool roared into the League One play-off places.
The young defender starred as the Tangerines defeated Peterborough United 3-1 at Bloomfield Road.
Gabriel has been on the bench in recent weeks but earned another chance to start in Tuesday’s home game.
Earlier this season he made two appearances for the Reds, before the club decided his development was best served out on loan.
After his latest outing, the 22-year-old won some praise from the Blackpool Gazette.
He was given an 8/10 for his performance and some nice words were written about him.
The paper read: “Excellent defensively, putting his body on the line throughout. Kept the dangerous Siriki Dembele quiet.”
The fact he kept the Posh danger man quiet is particularly interesting given he’s been linked with Forest before.
Dembele also lists Celtic, Rangers and Fulham as admirers but the Reds were also touted as an interested party during January (Guardian).
Could Gabriel earn a Forest chance next season?
He will almost certainly get the opportunity to impress Chris Hughton during pre-season.
Cyrus Christie will head back to Fulham at the end of his loan and the boss hasn’t seemed overly convinced by Carl Jenkinson.
Gabriel looks to be winning lots of plaudits at Blackpool and that certainly bodes well.
The fact he is keeping players like Dembele quiet is also big news, with the Peterborough man extremely highly-rated.
The right-back’s loan spell has had the desired effect and the next stage in his development looks like a proper chance at the City Ground.
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