If there is one player that we need more than ever right now, it’s Lewis Grabban.
What a season he has had for us. He has now scored 17 goals in 35 appearances for Forest during the current campaign, which places his tally in third compared to his spells with Rotherham in 2012 and Bournemouth in 2014, as per TransferMarkt.
Manager Sabri Lamouchi has frequently joked about keeping his top goalscorer “in the fridge” due to his importance for the team. But as we hunt our place in the Premier League for next season, Grabban spoke about the slight pain in his knee but will distract him from what matters.
Is Lewis Grabban Forest's most important player?
Yes
No
Quoted by the Nottingham Post, the 32-year-old said, “We just take it week by week, obviously if there’s ridiculous pain where it’s going to affect my performance drastically, then we have to do the clever thing. But at the moment I feel okay, so I’ll just keep going for these last 10 games and see what happens. It’s slightly painful. I’ve got a little problem, but it’s nothing to worry about”.
Grabban continued, “I think the majority of the squad are playing with niggles or playing with pain, it’s just part and parcel of it. At this stage of the season, you can’t really lose much fitness, unless you take long periods out. It’s just about rest and recovery between games, especially for more senior players like myself. We need to be fresh for the games.
“Whether I had the knee injury or not, I’d still be – not taking it easy – but having rest days and then training hard on certain other days. There’s no real change in that. There’s a lot of games in the Championship and it’s high-intensity as well, so it’s difficult. A lot of players pick up niggles, but everyone wants to play.
“But there’s opportunities that I felt I could have scored throughout the whole season, even when I am scoring. I just look at it game by game and judge myself on that.”
Not only is his goals catching the eye, but also his work off the ball and his work rate. His display against Cardiff City encapsulated Grabban as a player and was compared to the great Stan Collymore after the game. His comments represent a man with a fantastic attitude as a footballer.
He certainly bears resemblance to the club legend, who helped guide us to 3rd in the Premier League during the 1994/95 season. With an average of 2.2 shots per game and 0.8 clearances per game (as per Whoscored), he has illustrated his all-round game. Even though this summer may appear to be quite low, this speaks volumes of how much ground Grabban covers every week for us.
As a result, he is by far the club’s most important way. Although Lamouchi makes the odd joke about his fitness, deep down he will have his concerns. With this in mind, Grabban’s grit and determination will give us the best chance to reach football’s promised land once again.
