The Nottingham Forest B Team defeated Southampton at the Nigel Doughty Training Ground yesterday afternoon. Warren Joyce fielded a mixture of youth and experience as the Reds came through against the Saints.
The game was decided on a penalty in the third minute of the clash. Ateef Konate was bundled over on the edge of the box, with the referee deciding the infringement was inside the area.
Konate, who was impressive throughout, dusted himself off and sent the Southampton goalkeeper the wrong way to open the scoring.
Moments later, another experienced head was in the spotlight. Jonjo Shelvey committed a foul and then delayed the restart with the referee having no choice but to show him a yellow card.
Forest fielded an intriguing side. There were valuable minutes for Shelvey, Mohamed Drager, Alex Mighten, Tyrese Fornah and Harry Arter.
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In a somewhat surprising move, Emmanuel Dennis also had a run out during the second half of the contest.
It’s perhaps surprising he’s not with Steve Cooper’s squad given that Tawio Awoniyi is currently injured and the club doesn’t have a striker.
Forest had the better chances to add to the scoring in the second half. Drager blasted over, whilst Konate was flagged narrowly offside when through on goal.
Forest B Team defeat Southampton at the training ground
This was a useful run out for the Forest second string but some of the players will hope to secure moves in the near future.
Moving Arter, Shelvey and Dennis on could be tricky. Those three are on sizeable wages and persuading another club into a move won’t be easy.
As for others, they must fancy their chances of getting regular football elsewhere. Mighten has a bright future and Fornah played well for Reading last season.
They will surely fancy their chances of heading somewhere on loan. Similarly, with Drager, he was expected to return to FC Luzern for this season.
Youngsters Jack Thompson, James Clarridge and Kyle McAdam will likely form a big part of the club’s Premier League 2 campaign that gets underway in under two weeks.