Nottingham Forest gave a debut from the substitutes bench to Jota Silva during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.
The Reds claimed a first victory of the campaign thanks to a goal from Morgan Gibbs-White with 20 minutes of the Premier League clash remaining.
Silva arrived at Forest from Vitor Guimaraes during the summer transfer window for a fee of around £11 million.
He was an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth last weekend but did manage to get on the pitch at Southampton.
Silva only got on the pitch for a couple of minutes in stoppage time, with Nuno Espirito Santo bringing him and Forest defender Willy Boly on to see the game out.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White react after Jota Silva debut
Following the game, the Portuguese performer took to social media to speak of his delight at getting off the bench.
He took to Instagram after his debut, showcasing a picture of him waiting at the pitchside ready to enter the action.
He posted: “24.08.24. This will certainly be a day to remember in my career. First minutes representing Nottingham Forest and with a very important win. COYR!”
Following his post, he received a number of posts from other players, with Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi the two main messages of congratulations.
Match-winning performer Gibbs-White said: “Congrats bro.”
Hudson-Odoi was also in strong form at the St Mary’s Stadium and he also sent Silva a message, which said: “Let’s go my bro.”
Nottingham Forest stars rave about Silva and there will be more minutes to come
Other stars such as Ryan Yates, Harry Toffolo, Anthony Elanga and former Forest player Tiago Silva also posted on Silva’s social media.
He didn’t really get a chance to showcase too much at the weekend but with a cup game on the horizon perhaps there are more minutes to come.
The Forest winger will be keen to settle as quickly as possible at the City Ground and try and establish himself in the team.
Clearly, Silva has made quite the impact on his teammates at the club and it was pretty much a full house in terms of receiving congratulations from the squad.
Forest fans perhaps don’t know what they’re going to get from Silva but now the first outing is under his belt, he will hope to play even more and showcase his talent.
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