Competition is fierce but doesn’t Vellios deserve a shot at Forest?

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Having played just 74 minutes of competitive action so far this season surely Apostolos Vellios deserves more of a chance at Nottingham Forest?

Nottingham Forest mascot flies the flag before the Sky Bet Championship match against Leeds United at City Ground.

It has been a solid, if unremarkable, start to the new Championship season for Nottingham Forest, winning four and losing four of their opening eight matches to sit tenth in the table currently.

Consistency seems to be the issue and with nine players signed over the summer and the same number departing the City Ground, manager Mark Warburton is still working out his best team.

Mark Warburton, manager of Nottingham Forest, looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match against Leeds United.

One area where the 55-year-old does have an abundance of options is in attack, where the striker role in particular could be filled by five different players. Yet one of those is getting far fewer chances than the others – Apostolos Vellios.

This is despite the fact that during pre-season, no one scored more than the five Vellios netted in his four friendly outings. Now admittedly pre-season performances should be taken with a certain pinch of salt, but at least it showed the 25-year-old was sharp in and around the box.

Yet come the competitive fixtures and suddenly the Greece international was nowhere to be seen. Vellios’ sole appearance so far this season saw him play 74 minutes against Shrewsbury Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Apostolos Vellios of Nottingham Forest and Aristote Nsiala of Shrewsbury battle for possession during the Carabao Cup First Round.

Warburton did bring in two strikers over the summer in Daryl Murphy and Jason Cummings, with the former having scored four league goals already and the latter netting three in all competitions – although they have all come in the aforementioned Carabao Cup, with one against Shrewsbury and a brace against Newcastle United in round two.

Exciting youngster Ben Brereton has also been used extensively and although the 18-year-old has only found the net once in eight games, he has generally been used out wide. Fellow academy graduate Tyler Walker also seems to be ahead of Vellios in the pecking order, despite failing to score at all in four outings.

This is not to say that Vellios should be immediately instated as a first choice in the starting XI, but when beyond Murphy no one is firing regularly in the league, it seems odd that the Greek is not at least being given a chance.