Nottingham Forest under-21 chief Jimmy Gilligan has nothing but good words about the youth team’s centre back pairing.
Nottingham Forest’s under-21 manager Jimmy Gilligan was full of praise for young defender Joe Worrall, purring over his defensive partnership alongside Roger Riera as covered by Forest Player.
The pair of Forest defenders have been consistent and described as a ‘rock’ by Gilligan, as they helped to guide the side to victory in the Northern Section of the Professional Development League this season.
Worrall in particular was singled out for his character and for his impact in a key area, which has made the under-21 side very difficult to get the better of.
“The thing with Joe (Worrall) and Roger (Riera) is that they are good characters. They won’t just lay down and let someone walk all over them. Joe has been exceptional in the air for us lately – both of them have been a real rock in terms of our two centre halves at the back this season,” said Gilligan.
A key skill for any central defender is to be able to deal with the ball over the top effectively.
If a defender or central defensive pairing can cut out the aerial threat coming at them from the opposition, it forces the play down to the floor where it makes teams arguably easier to contain.
Obviously the standard in under-21 football will not be as high as in the Championship so first team boss Dougie Freedman has to be careful over potentially including Worrall or Riera in his first team in the near future.
The smart approach could be to allow them to see out the season with the under-21 team before nursing them into the setup next season.
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