Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White has issued a determined message amid the club’s fight for Premier League survival between now and the end of the season.
A 2-0 defeat against Manchester United at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon left Steve Cooper ’s men in 18th place in the Premier League table for another week. Goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot either side of half-time denied Forest the chance to climb out of the relegation zone.
Just goal difference separates the Reds and Everton in 17th position, but Forest will have to halt a run of three straight defeats should they wish to get themselves out of the bottom three. Their first chance to do that is on Saturday when they take on Liverpool at Anfield.
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Taking to social media following the defeat to Manchester United, Gibbs-White posted a simple message of what the squad will do before travelling up to Merseyside. “Time to look in the mirror and roll our sleeves up,” he wrote on Instagram.
The post prompted replies from teammates Moussa Niakhate, who wrote “100%” and Brennan Johnson, who replied with a red heart emoji.
Gibbs-White has been a key player for Forest so far this season, starting all but one of the Premier League games since his summer move from Wolves. He has scored two goals and provided five assists, but has not had a goal contribution since registering an assist for Chris Wood’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Man City at the City Ground.
Following last week’s 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa, former Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan called on Steve Cooper to play Gibbs-White as a central striker.
"Playing without a proper striker, it has to change," he said on the Garibaldi Red podcast. "I understand at times you're giving Gibbs-White a free role, but you look at it and at times think is the manager thinking 'I need to play Gibbs-White but I can't play him at the point in a midfield three because I don't feel he does the other side well enough'.”
How key will Gibbs-White be between now and the end of the season? Tell us in the comments section
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