Brice Samba sends message to Dean Henderson after…

Brice Samba sends message to Dean Henderson after stunning Nottingham Forest win

Dean Henderson was Nottingham Forest's hero in the League Cup quarter-final with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night.

The goalkeeper, on loan from Manchester United this season, made a decisive save in the penalty shootout to send Forest into the final four of the competition for the first time since 1992. Henderson kept out Joe Hodge's spot-kick and an eagle-eyed supporter on social media clocked the former Sheffield United stopper checking out a water bottle with instructions on during the shootout.

Former Reds goalie Brice Samba used similar tactics in the play-off semi-final against the Blades last season to send Steve Cooper's side to Wembley, where they would beat Huddersfield Town and secure promotion into the Premier League. Samba, who left Forest for French title challengers Lens in the summer, couldn't resist getting in on the Reds' celebrations after the Wolves game.

"A good sip before every pen = guaranteed win," he wrote on Twitter alongside a red heart and a laughing emoji in response to a tweet from the FFTV Forest fan channel. Henderson himself took to social media after the game, the 25 year-old buzzing after another crucial performance for the Reds.

"City Ground I love you! Through to the semis, let's go," he wrote. Henderson is set to miss the semi-final because he will be ineligible to face his parent club, something that Cooper will have to deal with when the games are played later this month.

"After seeing the night he had tonight, he was excellent in the penalty shoot-out but he was good in the game, more than good in the game," Cooper said. "It's unfortunate. He's part of our group, he is so invested in the group and how we work, what we're trying to accelerate in terms of what we want to become.

"To do that you need a really good goalkeeper. Not only is he committing as a goalkeeper, he is buying into being in the city and the greater good of the club. "It has put a dampener on it for me tonight."