Jack Colback isn't renowned for scoring spectacular goals.
But the Nottingham Forest midfielder popped up with a worthy contender for strike of the season in their thumping Easter Monday 4-0 win over West Brom. The 32-year-old let rip from an acute angle with a sumptuous volley that flew beyond a helpless David Button in the Baggies' goal.
That was to make it 3-0 on a superb night for the Reds, who strengthened their grip on a Championship play-off spot. Colback's scarcely believable strike even surprised him, with the Sky Sports cameras picking up his shock reaction to the goal.
When quizzed post-match over whether he meant it or not, he gave a tongue-in-cheek response.
Is Colback's strike the best goal scored in the Championship this season? Let us know in the comments
“Of course, I meant it”, said a smirking Colback after notching his third goal of the season. “No, I hit it towards goal and hoped for the best and thankfully it went in.”
His team-mate James Garner added: “I’m not sure if he meant it but I know he’s got the technique.”
Colback's wonder strike followed up a Brennan Johnson penalty and Ryan Yates' header. Sam Surridge added a late fourth on a night when forlorn Albion finished with ten men after Darnell Furlong's red card for his involvement in the penalty. Forest boss Steve Cooper, who has transformed the club from relegation candidates to genuine promotion contenders since his September arrival, says Colback's strike is right up there in terms of goals witnessed at the City Ground this term.
Cooper said: "Jack's said he meant it. Jack isn’t one to crave any extra praise. He’s a bit of a throwback on that front, so I’m not arguing with him! Jack was excellent, man of the match. It is one of the best goals we have seen at the City Ground this season, even if we have seen a few good ones. Grabbs (Lewis Grabban) scored a great one at Birmingham. Djed Spence’s first goal against QPR was good.
"The fourth goal tonight was good as well. I don't know how many passes there were involved. To win a game 4-0, you have to do a lot of things well. We took real control. We forced them into a situation where they were down to 10 men. We forced the 1-0, the 2-0 and got the third. The thing that mattered most was our attitude and approach. We felt really hard done by on Friday when a lot of the decisions and things did not go our way."
Steve Bruce's Baggies are now six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games left and their promotion hopes are as good as over. He was seething with the officials, despite admitting his side were second-best.
He said: "It was an awful night that went against us. Forest are the form team in the division and you can understand why. It was always going to be difficult for us.
"But, while you know you need to put in a performance, you also need the officials to do their job. I don't usually complain as I know they have a difficult enough task as it is but you need them to be better and, unfortunately, they were awful."
