Vital Forest News

Explained: Martin O’Neill could play Nottingham Forest man at centre-back next season

|
Image for Explained: Martin O’Neill could play Nottingham Forest man at centre-back next season

Danny Fox left Nottingham Forest for Wigan Athletic in January without being replaced, leaving the Reds to see the season out with Jack Robinson and Ben Osborn at left-back.

Martin O’Neill, however, has been in the market for a left-back this summer as he doesn’t consider Robinson to be a natural in the role. O’Neill has used the 25-year-old as one of three centre-backs in 3-4-2-1 formation and may, in my opinion, play him in the middle again next season too.

Forest have been linked with Martin Olsson and Caner Cavlan to solve their left-back woes, hinting that Robinson’s future at the City Ground could be as a central defender. He’s played on the left-hand side in a back-three for the Reds and could retain that role in 2019/20.

O’Neill is overstocked at centre-back – Michael Dawson, Tobias Figueiredo, Joe Worrall, Michael Hefele, Yohan Benalouane, Alexander Milosevic – so it makes sense for him to consider a three-man defence for next season.

Robinson made 40 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring and creating four goals. The Englishman only joined Forest from Queens Park Rangers in 2018, but he enjoyed a successful debut campaign on a personal note. He’ll have stiff competition at centre-back in 2019/20, however.

Crippy Cooke’s previous article

Report: Nottingham Forest may have to pay £1.77m to sign highly-rated winger

Share this article

Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.