Glenn Murray has led the praise for Nottingham Forest goal hero Sam Surridge... and the Reds' decisive transfer dealings during the January window.
Surridge, a January recruit from Stoke City, has had to be patient for his chances under Steve Cooper, who he had previously played under on loan at Swansea. However, he capped a start last night with a well-taken 90th minute goal that sealed a 4-0 win for the Reds over West Bromwich Albion. That makes it four in two starts and 13 substitute outings for Forest, who are fifth in the Championship with five games to go, seven points behind second-placed Bournemouth and five ahead of seventh-placed Millwall.
Murray, a former loan striker at Forest himself, was watching the game for Sky Sports. He said: “Sam Surridge lost his way slightly at Stoke but this boy knows where the back of the net is and it’s a proper striker’s finish. It’s my favourite finish of the night. He doesn’t look at the goal, he knows where the goal frame is and he’s looking at the ball.
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“He makes his body shape that he’s going to go across the goalkeeper but right at the last moment he closes his hips and puts it into the empty net because the goalkeeper’s gone with his eyes. It’s a real poacher’s instinct.”
Surridge, a £3.5million recruit for Stoke only last summer, was poised to make a loan move to Cardiff before Forest moved quickly for a permanent deal on deadline day following an injury to Lewis Grabban. However, it was a Good Friday injury to fellow January loan recruit Keinan Davis that led to his start last night.
Murray added: “I think credit really goes to Nottingham Forest bringing him in. They didn’t really need a striker in January. They had Grabban on form but they took the bull by the horns and brought in him and the boy from Aston Villa, Davis, and strengthened when they didn’t need to.
“To bring him on as a third-choice striker… he’s some striker to have as third choice, he’s a fantastic player.
Fellow pundit Neil Warnock is intrigued to see what happens next.
He said: “It does help when you’re 3-0 up and you get a chance like that (and you’re so relaxed). I look at Sheffield United’s chances [in their 1-1 draw at Bristol City earlier in the day] and Surridge would have scored every one of them. He would have scored a hat-trick for Sheffield United if he’d been on the pitch because he’s got that coolness about him.
“I’m pleased for him because he’s a good lad and he’s not had a great time. It’ll be interesting to see how he steps up.
“You look at what Forest did in January and other club's window and theirs is one of the best they’ve had. For the manager to see him come into the team and score a goal like that, knowing he hasn’t got the other lads for a couple of games, he’ll be thinking it couldn’t have gone any better. A bit of competition.”
