Opinion: Martin O’Neill could drop Nottingham Forest duo next season
Soccer Football - Championship - Nottingham Forest vs Derby County - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - March 11, 2018 Derby County's Bradley Johnson in action with Nottingham Forest's Matty Cash Action Images/Andrew Boyers EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Ben Osborn and Matty Cash may not be guaranteed a starting place in the Nottingham Forest first-team next season after struggling for goals & assists in 2019. The Reds have been linked with a host of wide-men this summer – Hosam Aiesh of Ostersunds, Gavin Whyte of Oxford United, Kamil Grosicki of Hull City and Albert Adomah – which could raise uncertainty over the duo’s role in 2019/20.
Osborn made 39 Championship appearances last season, scoring (1) and creating (5) six goals, but his form fell off a cliff in 2019. The 24-year-old hasn’t scored since New Year’s Day and hasn’t made an assist since the end of January. Osborn made just one successful dribble in his last nine appearances, whipped in four accurate crosses in his previous eight appearances and created only four chances in six.
Cash made 36 Championship appearances, contributing seven goals, but the 21-year-old as also guilty of inconsistency in 2019 – he scored only one goal and made only one assist since the turn of the year. The midfielder whipped in only seven accurate crosses since October and made six successful dribbles in his final seven appearances. O’Neill appears to be on the hunt for their replacements this summer, so could they be axed from the starting XI?