‘Absolutely brilliant’: Paul Merson seriously impressed by 22-year-old Nottingham Forest star

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Paul Merson heaped praise on Nottingham Forest forward Callum Hudson-Odoi yesterday afternoon. The Reds fell to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City after conceding twice in the opening 15 minutes.

Forest were the dominant team in the second half after Rodri was sent off for the hosts. He placed both of his hands around the neck of Morgan Gibbs-White and was subsequently given his marching orders.

Forest rolled the dice after the sending-off. Hudson-Odoi was introduced to try and continue in good form after his wonder goal gave the Reds a point against Burnley last Monday.

He was impressive once again. He was stifled a little bit more by the world-class rearguard that City can boast but that didn’t stop him from trying to get them on the back foot.

Merson was very impressed with the player. He was quick to praise Hudson-Odoi on Soccer Saturday and he was actually very surprised that Forest had a go in the second half.

He said live on air: “Forest have been miles better in this second half, although they couldn’t be any worse. Callum Hudson-Odoi has come on, he’s been absolutely brilliant and in fairness to Forest they’ve had a right good go since the sending-off.”

Merson raves about Hudson-Odoi during Forest defeat

Forest might have got themselves a real gem in Hudson-Odoi. He signed for the club for £3 million and that already seems extremely cheap in today’s inflated market.

The challenge for Hudson-Odoi after so long in the wilderness is to stay fit. That won’t be easy but he will hope that with more game time, he will get sharper and register more goal contributions.

Forest do have to look after Hudson-Odoi. He’s been struggling for a couple of seasons and they will have to manage his game time quite closely to get the best out of him.

Steve Cooper knows how to get the best out of the player following their time together in the England under-17 setup. His decision to leave him on the bench yesterday looked a good one and he made a huge impact from the bench.