Sean Dyche explains Dilane Bakwa situation as Nottingham Forest player stars for B-Team

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One Call Stadium, the home of Mansfield Town, won’t have been the venue that Dilane Bakwa dreamed of playing at when he chose to move to Nottingham Forest.

But that is where the French youngster made his first appearance for three months last night as the Forest B-Team took on Benfica as they kicked off the defence of their Premier League International Cup title.

Bakwa has struggled for game time since a £30 million deadline day arrival from Strasbourg, with injury striking him down and ruling him out of action since October.

Last night, he made his comeback, with League One outfit Mansfield Town hosting the clash against Benfica, which ended in a 1-1 draw with both teams taking a point apiece.

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Dilane Bakwa named in Nottingham Forest B-Team vs Benfica

Although Bakwa cost £30 million, he is viewed as a player with bags of potential and with the player needing minutes, this decision does make perfect sense.

At 23-years-old, Bakwa has a very high ceiling, and his six goals and nine assists in Ligue 1 last season are essentially what earned him his move to the City Ground.

Bakwa played his part in the 1-1 draw for Forest against a talented Benfica outfit. It was his effort on goal that saw Jimmy Sinclair score the opener after the goalkeeper had spilt the ball.

Bakwa was lively throughout the contest, using his pace to burst beyond defenders, and he was withdrawn on the hour with his next outing yet to be confirmed by the coaching staff.

What Sean Dyche has said about Dilane Bakwa

After Bakwa was back on the football pitch last night, Dyche was quizzed on the youngster in his pre-Everton press conference, and it would appear he might be around the first team again soon.

He said: “Dilane Bakwa is getting closer, he played 60 minutes last night, which was good for him, he came through unscathed, but that is gently, gently as he gets fitter.”

With Utrecht away from home in the Europa League to come, Dyche might look to rotate his pack ahead of a big game against Tottenham, and that might open the door for Bakwa.

With every player getting a new lease of life under Dyche, Bakwa will be delighted to be back on the pitch and now his challenge is to start pushing for a place in the first team in the coming weeks.