The international break is now over from a Nottingham Forest perspective and last night Matz Sels got the chance to play for Belgium against England at Wembley.
Several Forest players have been called up for their countries during the first international break of the year. Sels was handed a chance to actually play for Belgium with Thibaut Courtois currently out injured.
Sels signed for Forest from Strasbourg on transfer deadline day in January. He’s been ever-present in the Premier League since arriving and has proved an upgrade on Matt Turner and Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The Forest stopper saved a penalty against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday night. As a result, he kept his place for the game at Wembley and he was so close to being on the winning team – with Jude Bellingham scoring a 95th minute equaliser.
A former England goalkeeper was on pundit duties at Wembley in the shape of Rob Green. After the game last night, he had some words of encouragement for Forest star Sels.
What Rob Green has said about Forest stopper Matz Sels
Well, it’s always nice when a team of pundits features a goalkeeper. It’s a specialised position and ultimately, Green knows what it takes to be a top custodian.
Sels made a number of strong saves last night as Belgium face a barrage of England pressure. It was somewhat unfortunate that he was on the wrong side of a 95th-minute equaliser but Green liked his performance.
He told the highlights show on Channel Four: “One of the compliments you can say for England is that Selz played well in goal for Belgium. He had a good strong performance.”
Sels will return to City Ground in confident form
Sofa Score showed that Sels made five saves during the game against England last night. He also completed eight accurate long balls and finished with a pass success ratio of 78%.
As a result, Forest will be getting a Sels back who is buoyed from two outings for his country. With Courtois out injured, he will now fancy running Koen Casteels close for the gloves at Euro 2024.
The Reds stopper was busy last night and he will hope he doesn’t have to make five saves against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Forest are desperate for wins and a clean sheet would be absolutely lovely.
The Reds do look like they’ve done some decent transfer business here. Sels only cost Forest £5 million and he looks like remaining as the club’s number one for the final nine games of the campaign.
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox
