Former Rangers loanee Joe Worrall was crowned Man of the Match by Sky Sports following a big derby day win for Nottingham Forest over Derby County on Saturday afternoon.
The 22-year-old centre-back spent the 2018/19 season at Ibrox and experienced both highs and lows.
He made 32 appearances in total and sometimes looked superb partnering Connor Goldson at the back. He excelled in the 1-0 Old Firm win at Ibrox in December, while he also helped to keep clean sheets at home to the likes of Villarreal and Spartak Moscow in the Europa League.
There were multiple bad mistakes along the way too, though, which brought about mass criticism from Bears.
The most high profile incident came at Rugby Park after the winter break, when his terrible error initiated a Kille comeback. That defeat proved extremely costly in the context of the league campaign and saw the defender slammed by supporters.
It seems that since returning to Forest, though, he’s consistently performed well.
Ahead of Saturday’s East Midlands derby against the Rams, he’d played every minute of his team’s EFL Championship campaign [Transfermarkt], which is impressive in itself.
The local lad had spoken ahead of the game about how much the fixture meant to him [Seat Pitch], and he rose to the occasion, delivering a rock-solid display to help Forest keep a clean sheet.
Because of the defensive shutout, the home side needed just one goal to secure victory and striker Lewis Grabban delivered with a first-time finish in the 56th minute.
The 1-0 win increases the already considerable gap between the rivals, with Sabri Lamouchi’s Forest now up to fifth and Phillip Cocu’s Derby down in sixteenth.
