Garth Crooks has lauded one Nottingham Forest player after last weekend’s 3-1 win over Sheffield United.
The Reds won the day to go three points clear of Luton and five ahead of Burnley with just two games remaining of the campaign.
It’s been hard work for Forest in the current campaign but the performance at Bramall Lane offered a notion that light was indeed at the end of the tunnel.
Forest had a number of top performers in South Yorkshire and now, Crooks has picked out one of his top performers on the day.
Garth Crooks raves about Forest star Callum Hudson-Odoi
The Reds managed to land Callum Hudson-Odoi for a paltry sum of £3 million – and boy does it look like value for money.
On Saturday, he took his tally for the season to seven goals and he will come up against his former club Chelsea at the weekend for the first time.
Crooks was very impressed with his efforts at Bramall Lane and named him in his Premier League Team of the Week.
He told BBC Sport: “It looks like the player has got his mojo back. I saw it slowly desert him at Chelsea and he almost got it back on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, but his time at Nottingham Forest has proved to be a turning point for Hudson-Odoi.
“There is no doubt about the talent but there were plenty over his lack of grit and ability to fight, especially when things were going against him.
“However, his time at Forest has shown a different side. He scored two of the most glorious goals against Sheffield United. The second being the best, as the ball sat up and made the execution of the strike so much more difficult.
“Forest have had a wretched season largely due to their points reduction but seem to have grown as a group of players through their adversity – and so has Hudson-Odoi.”
Hudson-Odoi can get back to his best at the City Ground
Some often forget that Hudson-Odoi is only 23-years-old, given that he’s been around for seemingly ages.
Forest completed a signing that appeared risk-free when they took him from Chelsea and he’s grown under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The current head coach has perhaps given him more freedom to focus on attacking than Steve Cooper did and he’s looking better for it.
Hudson-Odoi is bang in form at the moment but the scary thing is that he’s not at his very best just yet.
With just two games of this season remaining, his full potential might not be realised until next season at Forest.
A full pre-season and a chance to get properly fit should ensure that Forest have got one of the steals of the century when it comes to the signing of Hudson-Odoi.
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