With three goals in his last two games, securing Forest four vital points in the process, Britt Assombalonga’s impact could hardly be more pronounced.
Nottingham Forest boss Philippe Montanier has told the club’s official website that ‘specialist’ goalscorer Britt Assombalonga can make the difference in tight encounters.
The 23-year-old netted twice as Forest ended a dismal run of form with a much needed 2-0 away win at Ipswich Town last week, taking his personal tally for the season to six in eight Championship appearances while simultaneously easing some of the mounting pressure on his manager.
Assombalonga missed the majority of last season with a horrific knee injury but has shown signs of getting back to his lethal best in recent weeks, the club-record signing also netting the opener against QPR the week prior to his double at Portman Road.
And Montanier has admitted that the availability of the former Peterborough United phenomenon makes Forest an entirely different proposition.
“Britt is an efficient player and we need that,” the former Real Sociedad boss told the club’s official website. “The defence played well, and the midfielders too [against Ipswich], but at the end we have to score to win the game.
“Britt is a specialist and in the last two games he has scored. I know that we can win, we did it without Britt too. To have a good player is important but the team is more than one player.”
The team may be more than one player, but Montanier is yet to prove that Forest can become anything exceeding the sum of their parts after a disjointed start to the season.
However, Assombalonga, one of the most naturally gifted forwards in the division, has the quality and the clinical edge to bail out his team-mates, something Forest certainly could have done with in a dismal September during which they failed to win a single game in the absence of their talismanic striker.
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