Nottingham Forest defeated Burnley 4-1 at the City Ground after a brilliant Morgan Gibbs-White hat-trick left the Clarets all but relegated.
Zian Flemming had Burnley in the lead before the interval, and it took a courageous second-half showing for Forest to haul themselves over the line.
Who was your Man of the Match vs Burnley
Changing things at half-time helped Forest. Igor Jesus stepped off the bench in place of the struggling Dilane Bakwa and gave Forest more attacking impetus.
Despite the big win, the first half performance still needs critiquing and one player in particular is providing a cause for concern for Vitor Pereira.
Nikola Milenkovic’s performances are now concerning
The Serbian defender was named Player of the Year during the 2024/25 campaign, and for £12 million, he’s proved one of the best signings the club has ever made.
However, his performances this season haven’t been quite as solid, with this evident in the win over Burnley, where he was at fault for Flemming’s goal.
His weak header in a dangerous area saw the Clarets head forward and silence the City Ground with the frustration etched all over the face of the defender in the aftermath.
Milenkovic produced his moment of madness just moments after Murillo had gone off, and without having his partner in crime next to him, there does seem to be a bit of a drop off.
Who Scored gives Milenkovic an average score of just 6.56 across the 33 appearances he’s made in the Premier League this season, and that just isn’t ideal for a player of his quality.
Dion Dublin called Milenkovic ‘brilliant’ last season and the hope from a Forest fan perspective is that the player can get back to his best between now and the end of the campaign.
Form is temporary class is permanent for Milenkovic
The 28-year-old is an international defender, and he’s not become a bad player all of a sudden.
Right now, like a lot of other players in the City Ground dressing room, Milenkovic is perhaps struggling with a crisis in confidence, which isn’t helping his form.
Complete this sentence using ONE word. In 2025/26, Nikola Milenkovic has been____
Let us know your verdict on Milenkovic in the comments below…👇
His error at the weekend was out of character for him and he will be desperate to bounce back from it extremely quickly, with the games coming thick and fast.
Nobody is going to start demanding that Milenkovic be dropped or anything like that but at the moment, it does feel as though Pereira needs to manage the Serb carefully in the coming weeks.
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