There hasn’t been much to cheer about Nottingham Forest recently, but the performances of Ben Osborn have provided some optimism.
“Fantastic” Nottingham Forest playmaker Ben Osborn does not get the praise his performances warrant, team-mate Henri Lansbury told the Nottingham Post.
Osborn, a product of the club’s prosperous youth academy, has provided a rare beacon of hope in a dismal run for Forest, flourishing in a central role behind target man Apostolos Vellios in last weekend’s frustrating 2-0 defeat at Reading.
The 22-year-old has created three goals in the Championship this season, meaning he is already more than halfway to beating his tally from 2015/16, and Lansbury believes his impressive displays should have warranted a great deal more attention.
“Ben is fantastic. He held the ball up, he ran in behind and caused a lot of problems,” the former Arsenal youngster told the Nottingham Post.
“The willingness of the front men to run for us is what we need. He was great in the manner in which he does that.
“He is a player who can go under the radar when it comes to what he offers us. He works himself into the ground in every game and in every training session.
“He is just a 100 percent player, in terms of effort, but also in his consistency in his performances. He is one of the best players in the team.”
As impressive as Osborn’s performances have been for Forest in recent weeks, the club’s frequently put-upon fanbase will be more than aware of the fact that a number of their highly-rated academy graduates have flown the nest in years gone by with the team stagnating in the second tier.
Oliver Burke’s high-profile departure to RB Leipzig this summer came just a few years after Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow moved to Newcastle United and Patrick Bamford (below) consigned himself to a lifetime of loans by joining Chelsea.
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