Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper says his decision to bring off Jonjo Shelvey against West Ham United was down to the midfielder's fitness levels.
The January signing’s substitution proved a pivotal moment in the Reds' 4-0 thumping at the London Stadium. Shelvey had been playing well, and the game was still goalless when he made way for Andre Ayew.
However, the former Newcastle United man has only recently returned from a calf problem, and given Forest's extensive injury list, it was a change Cooper had always planned to make. Rather than opting for a like-for-like switch, he viewed turning to Ayew as a positive substitution as he sought to claim a result.
