Why Freedman needs to re-evaluate his opinion of this Forest star

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Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman appears to believe Danny Collins has a future in the side’s first team.

Danny Collins has enjoyed something of a resurgence under Dougie Freedman so far, but the Scottish boss may have misplaced his trust.

Although Nottingham Forest are unbeaten with Collins in their starting line-up they have conceded six goals in the three games he has played and supporters are questioning whether he has a place in their strongest 11.

Stuart Pearce had appeared to write Collins’s chances of playing off during his time in charge and did not give him one appearance in any competition, but Freedman has immediately brought him into the team.

His experience and no-nonsense attitude was clearly something which the new Forest boss thought would be key to improving the side’s chances of success and results-wise it is hard to argue with his judgement.

However, there is a feeling around the City Ground that Forest’s upturn in form has been achieved despite Collins, rather than as a result of his inclusion.

The 34-year-old has shown signs of age in his past few displays and when looking at the statistics he is generally behind his rivals for a spot in the team.

Although Collins has been Forest’s most frequent intercepter, he is behind the rest of his teammates in a number of key areas.

Collins has made the second fewest amount of tackles out of any of Forest’s defenders per game, he has also made the lowest number of clearances and he has struggled in the air.

It means that Pearce’s exclusion of Collins is starting to look like the correct decision and Freedman may find it best to drop the experienced defender back to the bench in Forest’s coming matches.