Boss Steve Cooper hopes it has been a case of “live and learn” for Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba.
The shot-stopper has been in fine form this month as the Reds have stormed their way into automatic promotion contention. Most recently, he made some superb saves on Tuesday night to help secure a crucial 1-0 win at Fulham.
Prior to the last international break, though, Samba had been having to settle for a place on the bench. A moment of madness which saw him sent off against Stoke City in February led to Ethan Horvath seizing his chance and keeping hold of the shirt.
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That was until a quick turnaround from being on duty with America and Forest’s clash at Blackpool for Horvath at the start of April saw Cooper opt to recall Samba. And the 28-year-old has retained his spot since.
Asked if he had taken the opportunity to speak to Samba, the head coach said: “Yeah. We don’t want to talk about negative moments too much, but he obviously had a not great incident in the Stoke game, which we definitely had to talk through.
“But you live and learn. Hopefully that’s the case.
“Brice is a calm guy and he is a focused guy, a good guy. And obviously a good keeper as well.
“We really believe in him, we believe in Ethan. The goalkeeping department is a really hard-working one, with Danny Alcock as the coach, and Jordan Smith is in there as well. They really push each other - in a good way.
“Whoever has not been in the goal, the other two lads have been really, really supportive. That’s good to see.
“At the moment, Brice is playing. He’s getting support from his goalkeeping department, he’s getting support from us, and let’s hope he can work even harder to play well.”
