Nottingham Forest have signed Lee Tomlin on loan from Cardiff City, with Northern Ireland international Jamie Ward moving in the opposite direction. Both players will stay with their temporary clubs for the remainder of the Sky Bet Championship season.
Both players haven’t played as many minutes as they’d have liked in the season to date, so make moves just prior to tonight’s transfer deadline in order to secure additional game time in the coming months. Tomlin only made the move to Cardiff at the start of the season.
29-year-old Tomlin mainly plays as a number ten these days, but he is still able to do a job as an outright striker if required. He has generally scored goals throughout his career, perhaps most notably whilst with Peterborough United. This would earn him a move to Middlesbrough, and then into the Premier League with AFC Bournemouth in 2015 for £3.5million. Tomlin hasn’t featured for Cardiff since earlier this month, when playing in the 0-0 home draw with Mansfield Town in the Emirates FA Cup.
31-year-old Ward has been on the books at the City Ground since linking up on a free transfer in 2015, after previously playing for bitter rivals Derby County. He is a fans’ favourite among the Nottingham Forest faithful for sure, but he himself will admit he needed to get away to play much more than he has done. Injuries certainly have affected him in recent times, but now fit again, he’ll be confident of getting back to his best. Ward was a used substitute in Forest’s most recent game, a 3-0 home defeat to Preston North End.
