Former Rangers loan defender Joe Worrall has reportedly been told by Nottingham Forest to train away from the rest of the first-team.
The 26-year-old spent the 2018/19 campaign with the Ibrox giants in what was Steven Gerrard’s first season as manager.
Forest boss at the time Aitor Karanka insisted that Worrall needed more first-team experience before he could be established as a centre-back at the City Ground. Thus, Worrall was sent to Rangers and played 22 league games across his spell.
The former England U21 international’s time at Rangers was clearly invaluable. He went on to become an integral part of the Forest defence and became captain for the club’s first season back in the Premier League last campaign.
Former Rangers defender Joe Worrall exiled from Nottingham Forest training
Worrall captained Forest for their first five Premier League games this season. He was even praised by BBC pundit Alan Shearer for his performance against Chelsea in September.
But he has played a meagre 12 minutes for Steve Cooper’s charges across Forest’s last 10 league fixtures and hasn’t been in the squad at all for five of them.
And now, according to the Daily Mail, Worrall has now been axed from Forest first-team training alongside fellow defender and Aberdeen’s former Rangers adversary Scott McKenna.
The pair have reportedly been instructed to train on separate pitches and turn up for training at different times from the rest of the squad – the reason behind it is unclear.
Former Rangers centre-back Worrall is being linked with a move away from Nottingham Forest in the upcoming January transfer window but Gers, as far as we can see, are not interested in taking him back to the club.
Centre-back is an area Rangers boss Philippe Clement could be targeting in January, however, so a move for Worrall cannot be ruled out entirely.
Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun, John Souttar and Ben Davies are Clement’s main central defensive options but better long-term solutions will be required if Rangers are to bolster their chances of catching Celtic in the Premiership title race this season.
