News

4 duels won, one key pass: Keinan Davis proved instrumental for Nottingham Forest, he was sensational

Add as preferred source on Google

Nottingham Forest roared into the top-six of the Championship with a 2-0 win over promotion rivals Blackburn Rovers.

A first-half goal by James Garner and a penalty by Brennan Johnson in stoppage time gave the Reds a vital win on their travels.

Darragh Lenihan was sent off early in the second half for a second bookable offence in what proved a frustrating night for the hosts.

One man who was outstanding for Forest, especially during the opening 45 minutes was Keinan Davis.

The striker checked in at Forest from Aston Villa as soon as the transfer window opened in January.

He has scored a couple of goals and in the first half at Blackburn helped himself to an assist.

His bulldozing run from inside his own half had Blackburn fans scrambling and they couldn’t deal with his sheer physicality.

Blackburn Rovers v Nottingham Forest - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images

Davis was fouled but got back to his feet, slipped a deft ball to Garner who did the rest from inside the penalty area.

Who Scored showed just how much quality Davis possessed in the first half.

They had him down as winning four aerial duels against the opposition, with his assist counting as a key pass.

Davis has really surprised the Forest fan base. His less than impressive goal ratio with Aston Villa did have some supporters feeling disappointed.

They really ought to have given him a chance, however, with the 23-year-old showcasing some unbelievable hold-up play so far.

A lot of his outings at Villa have come from the bench and as a result, his goal ratio is perhaps skewed somewhat.

Class: Cooper must have a word with Villa about keeping Davis at Forest

The youngster is fancied to come good by Villa boss Steven Gerrard.

He is naturally going to look at him during pre-season but at the same time, they will also fancy signing some new players of their own.

Blackburn Rovers v Nottingham Forest - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

That could open the door for Forest and he’s very quickly becoming a cult hero on Trentside.

If Gerrard does deem that his future is better served elsewhere then Cooper simply has to bring him to Forest permanently.