, ‘Grab it with both hands’ – Nottingham Forest winger’s advice for 18-y/o

‘Grab it with both hands’ – Nottingham Forest winger’s advice for 18-y/o

Nottingham Forest winger Sammy Ameobi is offering words of encouragement to teenage midfielder Alex Mighten, as he looks to establish a place in the side.

The 18-year-old made his first start since Chris Hughton took the reins at the City Ground, in Tuesday’s crucial 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

He made his senior debut for Forest almost a year ago in an FA Cup third round tie away at Chelsea in January, and has since registered 17 first-team appearances for the club.

Mighten has struggled for game time so far this campaign, making just two starts in total and has come off the bench 12 times, but Ameobi believes the player has a bright future ahead of him.

“I like Alex a lot,” he told Nottinghamshire Live. “It’s difficult when you’re a young boy coming through and you’re wanting to play, so I’ve just had to keep telling him, ‘keep doing what you’re doing’.

“He trains well every day and works hard every day. I just said to him, ‘you’ll get your chance, and when you do, grab it with both hands’.

“I really believe he did that on Tuesday. He put in such a great performance.

“He was confident and he’s such a threat when he gets moving – he’s too quick for anybody, to be honest!

“He’s been brilliant. He’s got his chance now. Hopefully he can keep plugging away, keep working hard and get more games under his belt this season.”

Jan Kruger/Getty Images Sport

Tuesday night’s win over the Owls was Forest’s first in eight matches, with Lewis Grabban scoring his first goal of the season following his recovery from a hip injury.

Ameobi believes it could be a turning point for Grabban and the club’s other attacking players, with Forest only managing 13 goals from 19 league fixtures to date.

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But he insists Hughton’s priority upon arrival was to make the side more solid and harder to beat, before fixing issues at the attacking end of the pitch.

“We all know about Grabbs. He’s an incredible striker and his record speaks for itself,” he continued.

“He’s an incredible finisher. And he’s a leader in the dressing room, so it’s a massive bonus not just to have him on the pitch, but just around the lads, firing everybody up.”

“To come back and get a goal pretty much straight away is always good for confidence, and good for the team as well.

“Hopefully he can score goals like he did last season. We have an incredible array of attacking talent in this team.

“When the manager came in, his first job was to try to shore things up defensively and cut out the mistakes we were making.

“But I do think there are a lot of positives to take from the attacking side of our game, and it gives us something to build on.

“I think you saw a lot of that on Tuesday night. Long may that continue this season.”

Stephen Pond/Getty Images Sport

Hughton’s men will be aiming to create more distance between themselves and the bottom three when they face Millwall at the New Den on Saturday.

Despite Tuesday’s much-needed victory over the Owls, Forest are only out of the bottom three on goal difference as Derby County pulled off an impressive 2-0 win over Swansea City on Wednesday night.

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