Preston defender Joe Rafferty has claimed that Nottingham Forest attacker Nuno Da Costa is the best winger he has come up against in the Championship this season.
Da Costa and Rafferty came up against each other recently when Forest and Preston came up against each other at Deepdale earlier this month.
A Jayden Stockley goal earned Preston a 1-1 draw in that match, after Lewis Grabban had put Forest 1-0 up from the penalty spot early, the spot-kick having been won by Da Costa for a foul by midfielder Ben Pearson, with the Forest man clearly leaving an impression on Rafferty.
Speaking to LancsLive about his best opponent in the Championship this season, Rafferty – who has made 29 league appearances for North End across the course of the campaign – said: “The best one I’ve faced was probably the lad at Nottingham Forest, Da Costa. I thought he was quite sharp.”
Reflecting on his battle with Da Costa, who only moved to The City Ground from French side Strasbourg in January, Rafferty continued: “Funnily enough, they were on TV midweek so I watched their game before ours as I didn’t really know who he was or anything really.
“He hadn’t played much for them so I had a little watch and thought ‘oh he’ll be alright and just like most wingers in the Championship’.
“But I came up against him and there were spells where I thought ‘bloody hell, he’s quite good’.”
Do Rafferty's comments about Da Costa surprise you?Yes
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This is an interesting observation from Rafferty.
Da Costa has had something of an inconsistent start to life at Forest, although that outing against Preston did seem to be one of the better performances he has put in for Lamouchi’s men, which could go some way to explaining the impact he had on Worrall.
Following the all-round disappointment of this season, some repeats of those sorts of contributions from Da Costa would certainly be welcomed by Forest, as they look to bounce back in the coming campaign.
