Stuart Pearce enjoyed a fruitful twelve-year spell at the City Ground and has since lauded one of his former Nottingham Forest teammates.
When it comes to ranking Forest legends, none are more iconic than the infamous ‘Psycho’.
Pearce, who ranks fourth in terms of record Forest appearances, had the pleasure of playing alongside some of the City Ground’s best-ever players.
Des Walker was Pearce’s favourite player at Forest, but the former left-back has also recently taken the chance to sing the praises of another of his ex-teammates.
Stuart Pearce praises Roy Keane’s Nottingham Forest impact
Roy Keane only played three seasons with Pearce, but it’s fair to say he more than left an impression on his Forest teammate.
Brian Clough was a huge fan of Keane following his arrival from Ireland, and it seems like Pearce shares that sentiment.
Speaking on the Overlap’s Stick To Rugby podcast, Pearce spoke on Keane’s impact at the City Ground.
“Cloughy put him straight in the first team and off you go. It was incredible, for a couple of years, for us, brilliant. Energy to get from box to box, for a young kid, he had an edge to him, you could see he had that edge, and it’s still there now.
“But as a player, he played central defence, he played him in midfield, played him on the right-hand side, you could play him where you want and he would be your best player – he was one of those individuals.
“He had that edge to him, that bit of nastiness, a will to win – call it what you want. But you knew he had the mentality to drive him where he wanted to go.”
Keane admired Pearce at Nottingham Forest
Having heaped praise on his former teammate, it seems like Pearce’s admiration of Keane goes both ways.
When speaking on his time at the City Ground, Keane spoke on the role Pearce played in the Forest dressing room, even admitting he admired the left-back.
“When I was a young player at Forest you would look for senior players and I would see Pearcey and he was a proper pro,” Keane told the Overlap in March 2023.
“Whereas I would be out in Nottingham at nighttime and would see Des in these bars and be like I want to be like Des and I want to be like Pearcey as well!”
Unsurprisingly, both Keane and Pearce would be included in Forest’s best ever XI in 2016.
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