Ange Postecoglou has got his hands on an in-depth squad at Nottingham Forest and despite defeat to Swansea City, this was fully on show.
The Tricky Trees spent big in the summer, and there are plenty of new names in the City Ground dressing room.
Igor Jesus is one of the new arrivals, and the forward was selected to start for the Tricky Trees on Wednesday night.
While the game ended in a 3-2 loss, there were many positives. Dilane Bakwa’s performance was lauded by fans, and the City Ground faithful finally got their first look at Douglas Luiz in the Garibaldi.
But Igor Jesus’ two first-half goals could have been the biggest takeaway, and Ange Postecoglou has given an insight into his plans.
Ange Postecoglou says he needs to be careful with Igor Jesus
Despite scoring twice, Igor Jesus was taken off at half-time with Arnaud Kalimuendo taking his place.
While it may have seemed at the time that Ange was simply getting a look at all of his options, the substitution was actually for another reason.
Postecoglou said, “Igor was great the other night. He had a little bit of a niggle, and that’s why I left him out on the weekend. We weren’t sure how he’d go, so the plan was always to play him for 45 minutes.
“He played in the World Club Championships, and a lot of players who took part in that tournament are picking up injuries at the moment. I think with him, we’ve just got to be really careful about how we reintegrate him. He was great the other night, such a hard worker.”
The former Botafogo man has the challenging task of overthrowing Chris Wood as Forest’s star forward, but after his performance against Swansea, he has moved one inch closer to doing so.
The Brazilian had admitted he needed to adapt to English weather, and he looks on his way to adapting.
Igor Jesus was a big positive on a disappointing night for Nottingham Forest
The performance of the Brazilian was a big positive for Ange Postecoglou’s side, and the Australian knows it.
Speaking ahead of Forest’s game with Burnley, Ange also said, “I thought [Igor Jesus] was excellent the other night, and I’m looking forward to working with him.
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“He’s a real hard worker, a willing worker. I think, for all the disappointment on Wednesday night, there were some massive positives, and he was definitely one of them.”
Igor Jesus has some tough players ahead of him in the pecking order. Taking over from Chris Wood will be no easy task, and Arnaud Kalimuendo’s arrival complicates the path ever further.
However, on Wednesday night, the Brazilian took his chance, and he may have moved up in the estimations of the Nottingham Forest head coach.
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