Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles has told the Garibaldi Red Podcast that he’d love to see Sam Surridge start more. The talented centre-forward has started just once in the Premier League this season and that came on the opening day of the season.
Surridge scored eight goals last season, helping Forest reach the Premier League. He only signed in January and having played under Steve Cooper before, it looked like a match made in heaven.
The 24-year-old does have time on his side but game time just isn’t forthcoming. In the last five matches that Forest have played, he’s featured for just four minutes and they came at 4-0 down against West Ham.
Birtles thinks that Surridge has been a little bit hard done by at the City Ground this season. He has now called upon Cooper to start picking him more frequently for the Reds.
Birtles told the Garibaldi Red Podcast: “I like him because of the honesty he gives you when he’s out there. He will back into people, he will go into the channels, he will close down, he will run across the line and make things difficult for defenders.
“You can say what you like about finishing but last season in the Championship you still have to finish. He finished some of those goals he scored brilliantly and they were Premier League quality. You don’t suddenly lose that.
“I think he just offers something a little bit more and a little bit different than the others. Last season we saw how dangerous he can be.”
Birtles would love to see Surridge start more
It’s something of a strange situation regarding Surridge. With Forest struggling for goals from open play, it’s no surprise that people are demanding that he gets given more game time.
Forest are in a bit of a rut. They desperately need a win to come from somewhere and are in danger of slipping back into the bottom three at this rate.
Cooper has come under fire for some of his selections of late. Mixing it up and handing Surridge the chance to shine for a few games might be just the tonic Forest need to revive their fortunes.