James Ward-Prowse starred during FA Cup win and Nuno Espirito Santo has a Nottingham Forest conundrum

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Nottingham Forest knocked Luton Town out of the FA Cup on Saturday as the two clubs renewed their rivalry from last season.

Forest and Luton fans began a fierce rivalry during the 2023/24 campaign. The Hatters were considered the plucky underdogs yet despite Forest being deducted four points, they couldn’t survive Premier League relegation.

The two teams faced each other yesterday at the City Ground in contrasting form. Forest had won six games in succession, keeping four clean sheets on the trot, whilst Luton are 20th in the second tier having just sacked Rob Edwards in the lead-up.

Forest won courtesy of goals from Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa on Trentside. Michael Dawson hailed Sosa and all the Reds players who came in gave a good account of themselves.

Another player who came in from the cold yesterday was James Ward-Prowse. He’s been out of the team for a little while with Forest performing well and this was viewed as a big game for the player.

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James Ward-Prowse put on masterclass vs Luton Town

It’s probably a stretch to say that Nuno Espirito Santo has treated Ward-Prowse unfairly. The Forest head coach has been picking pretty much the same winning team for weeks and the midfielder has just been unfortunate.

Ward-Prowse is likely to stay at Forest for the remainder of the season. It had been questioned among the fan base whether the club might look to cancel the loan and attract another Premier League deal instead.

His performance against Luton wasn’t one of a player who looks like he’s been sulking at being out of the team. Instead, he proved exactly the type of character he is with a dominant display.

Both Ward-Prowse and Yates showcased how valuable they are to the Forest team. Now, both will have to wait to see if they’ve done enough to keep hold of their places for Tuesday’s huge clash against Liverpool.

James Ward-Prowse stats vs Luton in FA Cup clash

At 30-years-old, Ward-Prowse won’t be fazed by being out of the team. Instead, he will show more determination than ever to make sure he’s ready when the call does come from the gaffer.

Against Luton, Ward-Prowse produced a performance that typified what he’s all about. He kept things ticking over from the engine room and produced the level of set pieces that everyone knows he is capable of.

Forest have been playing with a combination of Yates, Elliot Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez in midfield of late but on this showing, Ward-Prowse shouldn’t be discounted from making an impact during 2024/25.

The foundations of Forest’s form this season have been built on team spirit. Ward-Prowse showed with his performance yesterday that things are well behind the scenes and hopefully, the player can get some more minutes in the Premier League in the coming weeks.