Ben Watson still has big role to play at Nottingham Forest, but only on one condition - opinion

Nottingham Forest midfielder Ben Watson made his first start since October in his side’s 3-1 win against Wigan Athletic at The City Ground last weekend, and his future prospects are certainly looking much brighter under Martin O’Neill than they were just few weeks ago.

On the chalkboard

Well, despite finishing the 2017/18 campaign in fine form and often captaining the Reds in the early stages of the current Championship season, the 33-year-old fell out of favour under previous manager Aitor Karanka following the 2-1 home defeat by Norwich City on October 20.

The midfielder suddenly found himself behind the likes of Adlene Guedioura, Claudio Yacob and Jack Colback in the central midfield pecking order, and on nine occasions between October and January he didn’t even make the substitutes’ bench for Forest in the league.

That changed following the arrival of O’Neill as Karanka’s successor however, and while he was an unused member of the 18-man squad against Bristol City he was reinstated to the starting XI and even named as skipper against the Latics last time out.

Does he have a big role to play now?

He does, but only one condition.

In the 4-4-2 system that O’Neill employed in his first match at The City Ground there should be no spot for the 33-year-old, as he no longer has the legs and box-to-box ambitions to only have one teammate alongside him.

It is no coincidence that Watson impressed as part of a midfield trio in a 4-3-3 against his former club last Saturday however, and while he did his job defensively well he could also advance forward too, knowing that he potentially had two players that would cover him if needed.

Watson looked destined for the exit door either this month or in the summer had Karanka remained with the east Midlands outfit, but with a contract not due to expire until the summer of 2020 he now must grasp the new opportunity he has been handed.

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from FootballFanCast.com http://bit.ly/2WwtcBd