Garry Birtles has praised Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White after the 3-2 defeat to Brighton on Saturday.
The Reds attacker assisted the first goal for Anthony Elanga and then opened his account from the penalty spot in the second half.
Gibbs-White has taken some time to get up to speed this season after a pretty hectic summer.
He was a big part of the England under-21 team that won the European Championships and that cut into his pre-season campaign.
Birtles raves about Gibbs-White
The 23-year-old has come under fire from some sections of the fan base this season.
Some of the criticism has been ridiculous, whilst other comments have perhaps been indicative of the standards that Gibbs-White has set at Forest.
Birtles felt Gibbs-White deserved praise for his Forest performance on Saturday and he was seriously impressed.
He told the Garibaldi Red podcast: “I’ve got to say a big thumbs up to Morgan Gibbs-White for his penalty, to be fair. I thought for how long they tried to put him off to score it was impressive and his ball for the first goal was absolutely superb.”
Gibbs-White integral to Forest fortunes
His critics can say what they want but if anything happens to Gibbs-White, Forest are in big trouble.
The talented player signed for Forest from Wolves for a club-record transfer fee that could rise to £42.5 million.
Gibbs-White has been a quality signing for Forest and he’s technically the best player at the club.
This season his magic moments have occurred less frequently but Birtles is right to praise the Forest star.
In recent weeks, Gibbs-White has been doing a job on the right-hand side for Forest.
That has stifled his threat somewhat but on Saturday against Brighton, he produced arguably his best performance in that position.
The challenge for Gibbs-White is to find some consistency in the Forest team and he does look to be edging back to his very best.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
