Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has heaped praise on defender Djed Spence after he claimed the Championship Player of the Month award for March.
Spence scored a superb goal against QPR last month and that probably gave him the edge over his rivals to claim the accolade.
The 21-year-old has been a revelation since checking in at Forest during the January transfer window. He joined from Middlesbrough in the summer transfer window and has really kicked on.
Spence has missed just two games – both against parent club Middlesbrough – since he arrived on Trentside, holding down a place in Cooper’s team.
Cooper has claimed that working with Spence has been good and this reward is thoroughly deserved for the youngster.
He told the Football League Paper (10/04; page 10): “The award is good recognition for an impressive month for Djed.
“But, we’ve really enjoyed working with him since he joined the club. He has been an important player for us this season and he has really committed to our way of playing.”
Spence will be hoping to continue pushing Forest further up the league as they try to close down a place in the top two.
Spence set for huge move following Forest spell
The talented player has made a mockery of Neil Warnock’s decision to loan him out prior to the season starting.
He has been tremendous for Forest and now has some of European football’s biggest clubs flocking to the City Ground to scout him.
Arsenal and Tottenham are thought to be leading the race. Bundesliga interest comes from Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen too.
Forest might have a small sniff of signing him permanently but only if the team achieves promotion to the Premier League.
That would be the dream for Forest and Spence would surely love to be a part of this exciting project under Cooper.
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