Saturday was a proud day for Nottingham Forest supporters as England defeated Andorra 2-0.
In large, this was another England game overseen by Thomas Tuchel that will hardly be searched for years to come when it comes to stellar moments.
From a Forest perspective, however, this one was the first chance to see Elliot Anderson playing for the Three Lions at senior level as Tuchel handed him a starting berth.
Morgan Gibbs-White joined Anderson on the pitch in the second half and it was the first time for many years that two Forest players have been on the same pitch for England at the same time.
Tuchel hailed Anderson for his efforts for England and it was a very proud moment for the Forest number eight and his family.
England midfielder Elliot Anderson in action against Andorra.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Lee Dixon makes hilarious Elliot Anderson claim
As Anderson started to dictate the tempo for England, showing the maturity and confidence of a player who looked like he’d played 50 times for his country, Dixon chose to rave about the midfielder.
However, it would appear that the ITV co-commentator forgot who Anderson actually plays for these days, making a quite remarkable claim on national television.
Dixon said that he had been very impressed with Anderson when he watched Newcastle play against Leeds last week and loved how the 22-year-old controlled the tempo of that particular game.
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Forest fans couldn’t actually believe their ears, and although Anderson has been outrageously good over the last 12 months, Newcastle’s loss is very much Forest’s gain.
The next Forest player to make England bow has emerged
Although Forest have Callum Hudson-Odoi, Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee in their ranks who will undoubtedly be in the sights of Tuchel, another Forest man has staked his claim this week.
Zach Abbott has emerged on the radar of the England head coach after he was invited to train with the senior ranks during training at St George’s Park this past week.
Abbott is down the pecking order at Forest right now but might get some minutes in the Carabao Cup later this month, whilst he will be hoping to get involved with the England under-21s in the coming months too.
The versatile defender does feel like a future star with Forest, and it’s great that he’s now had the experience of training alongside these fantastic footballers at an international level.