Ben Brereton should be playing a key role for Nottingham Forest for the remainder of the season.
Aitor Karanka should be playing Ben Brereton regularly for Nottingham Forest, rather than excluding him from match-day squads.
Brereton was left out of Forest’s 18-man squad to take on Hull City, with Karanka confirming after the game the decision was a tactical one, rather than an enforced change.
Brereton was forced to watch on from the stands, as Forest lost 2-0 against Hull, in what was a highly disappointing defeat.
And Karanka should realise that he has made an error by taking Brereton out of Forest’s squad.
The youngster may still have areas of his game to work on, but right now is the perfect time to nurture the striker.
Only a disastrous sequence of results would see Forest slip into the bottom three, and they are too far away from the play offs to mount a promotion push.
It means that Forest should be laying the foundations for next season, when Brereton will surely have a key role to play.
The youngster is highly unlikely to stay at the City Ground, given the Premier League interest in him, unless he is playing regularly.
And Karanka needs to show Brereton that he has faith in him in the coming weeks, rather than taking him out of contention entirely.
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