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After his “big moment”, Grabban needs this break to build to focus on the season ahead – Opinion

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It wasn’t the greatest of goals.

But when it’s the one that wins the derby, it will certainly go down as a memorable one.

Lewis Grabban has essentially written himself into Nottingham Forest folklore after his effort on the weekend, and former Red Garry Birtles has singled him out for praise. Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Birtles has praised Grabban for stepping up in such a big moment and taking his opportunity:

“That was a big moment in a big game, and he deserves credit for it. You can point to Jayden Bogle’s mistake, but Grabban still had to provide the finish. And he did it brilliantly. People can give you gifts like that, but you’ve still got to take them. Grabban did. I think everyone can see up front is a position which needs to be addressed in January. You can’t have all the pressure on Grabban to get the goals all season.”

A lot has been written about Grabban in recent weeks, particularly about how the club needs to get him some help upfront so that the ‘burden’ is lifted off his shoulders and have someone else sharing the goal-scoring responsibilities.

However, if he can just keep ticking along and grabbing the odd goal like this, then everything will be fine. In fact, it’s almost a credit to him that he was able to be in the right place at the right tie to capitalise on Bogle’s error, it shows that he hasn’t let the recent talk about how he needs help affect him and is able to just carry on being the goal-scoring threat that he is.

That’s why this international break is going to be so crucial for him. He showed after the Reading postponement what he can do after a sustained period of rest when he found the back of the net against Luton, so hopefully he’ll be able to do the same again.

How many goals will Grabban get this season?

10-20

20+

Forest have got a big test against Bristol City coming up after the break, and they are going to need him to be at his best. If he fails to perform in that game, then all the talk about him needing help is just going to get louder and louder. But if he manages to stay on this run of form, then he’ll be in a great position to prove his doubters wrong.

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