Nottingham Forest wasted the chance to go eight points clear of the relegation zone after the team’s annual defeat at Fulham.
Forest have lost all four games they’ve played at Craven Cottage since winning promotion to the Premier League, with Raul Jimenez’s penalty consigning them to their latest defeat.
This season is very much one step forward and two steps back, with the Reds unable to stick another win on the board after last weekend’s impressive display against Tottenham.
Sean Dyche is once again left with more questions than answers about his squad, and one player in particular completely fluffed his lines after receiving a Premier League chance.
Douglas Luiz wastes golden chance to impress Dyche
It’s been claimed that the jury is still out on Luiz in the eyes of Dyche, and this performance will have done little to appease the head coach either.
Luiz has found staying fit extremely hard this season, but he was the man tasked with stepping in to replace Ibrahim Sangare, who has gone to the African Cup of Nations.
The 27-year-old was out of sorts in the first half, and it cost Forest, with the Brazilian giving away a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time.
His overall play was largely poor, and the player was hooked later in the piece, failing to grasp his opportunity to truly impress his manager.
Dyche now has a decision to make before Manchester City clash
With Nicolas Dominguez also looking to get back on the pitch and start games once again, this performance couldn’t have been timed much worse by Luiz.
The midfielder wasn’t at the races, and his tackle, which led to the penalty being awarded, was extremely poor for such an experienced performer.
Luiz needs to stay fit and earn a consistent run of games in the Forest team, but ultimately he needs to keep ensuring that his performance levels don’t dip too.
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Given that he’s been fighting a battle to stay fit, he will have some credit in the bank, but with Dyche looking for a consistent winning formula, this performance could lead to him making a big decision.
With the games set to come thick and fast, it will now be a nervy few days for Luiz to see if he makes the starting eleven for the game against City.
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