Steve Cooper has heaped praise on Harry Toffolo for his performance as Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Wolves yesterday.
The Reds boss was forced into a change, with Renan Lodi returning to England early on Friday morning after his wife had given birth.
That promoted a big decision. Playing Lodi was one that Cooper felt he couldn’t take and Toffolo got the nod.
Ironically, it was the first time the 27-year-old had started since the reverse fixture against Wolves in October.
Toffolo was handed the daunting challenge of keeping Adama Traore at bay. It was a challenge he accepted and he did quite well considering he’d not played for a while.
MORE FOREST STORIES
Cooper was impressed with the player who signed from Huddersfield during the summer and spoke about him afterwards.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “I was really pleased with Harry and his performance. He only came off because he’s actually been injured as well.
“He’d only trained for a couple of days before and then there was getting a yellow card against a player like Traore.
“It was a straight swap with Renan. I would have done it the other way if Harry was on the bench.”
Cooper praise for Toffolo is richly deserved
The Forest defender has proved himself in the Championship but the jury has been out in the Premier League a little bit.
In fairness to him, since the World Cup, he’s hardly played with Lodi as the regular left-back.
Yesterday wasn’t an easy game for Toffolo to return in. Coming up against Traore is always going to be a challenge but he did rather well.
Toffolo is unlikely to be back on the bench when the Reds travel to Leeds on Tuesday night.
However, he proved during this clash that he can act as a reliable backup should Cooper need to call upon him.