Nottingham Forest youngster Alex Mighten has been backed to find his form after something of a tough start to his Sheffield Wednesday loan.
With his chances likely to be limited at the City Ground this season, the 20-year-old linked up with the Owls last month. He made his debut as part of the starting XI in a 3-1 defeat to Bradford in the Football League Trophy, and has featured twice in the league since then.
However, Mighten is yet to really show what he can do, and has been deployed in a variety of different positions by Darren Moore, including as a number 10 and on both flanks. Nevertheless, the Wednesday boss remains confident the Reds loanee will find his feet.
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"It was his first league start for a while," Moore told Yorkshire Live, after Mighten started Tuesday night’s 3-0 win at Morecambe, only to be subbed off just past the hour mark. "He gave us an out.
"We managed to push him higher up the pitch at times. When there was a turnover, he was engaging with the front two.
"I think 60 odd minutes at Morecambe will have done him the world of good. We wanted him to blow off the cobwebs. He will get stronger."
YorkshireLive describe how Mighten "struggled to get going on the right flank”. He is said to have shown “in patches what he is capable of at Morecambe”, but his decision-making in the final third was highlighted as an area for improvement.
Mighten had made two appearances for Forest this term prior to his move, being brought on at Newcastle United on the opening day and then playing 86 minutes against Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup. Injuries and competition for a place in a winning team meant he featured 27 times last season, struggling to get a regular run in the side.
Before he headed to Hillsborough, Reds head coach Steve Cooper had said: “I’ve gone on record many times to say what I think Alex can be for Forest in the long-term. And everybody’s way of getting there looks different.
“What Alex can’t do - and I’m not speaking out of term, because me and Alex have had this conversation - is have another season like last year. Always, the most important thing for a young player is to play games; to start games, sometimes finish them, play three in a week, experience the build-up, experience the winning, experience the losing, come up against strong opponents.
“Last season, for one reason or another - and some of it was bad luck - he didn’t get to experience that. I don’t think he can go through that again.”
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