Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City on Saturday in a game that saw fans from both teams let Stuart Pearce know that he was firmly in their thoughts.
The Forest legend and former Manchester City left-back was taken ill on Friday whilst travelling from Las Vegas to London and is currently recovering in a Canadian hospital.
The City Ground stood to applaud Pearce as chants of ‘Psycho’ rang from all four corners of the stadium in the third minute of Saturday’s big clash.
Forest came out on top during the match. Callum Hudson-Odoi cost the Reds just £3 million and his goal seven minutes from time could go a long way towards securing Champions League football.
Ola Aina was praised for his performance against City. However, there was another standout performer who produced a timely display to pay the ultimate tribute to Pearce.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Neco Williams produces display that Stuart Pearce would have been proud of
This was a day when Forest had to stay at it throughout with City able to bring Kevin De Bruyne, Omar Marmoush and Mateo Kovacic off of the bench.
With that in mind, Williams had to stand firm against a number of different options who operated on the right-hand side during the 90 minutes.
His performance was simply breathtaking and arguably the best supporters have seen in a Forest shirt with the player vastly improved this season.
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Williams epitomises what every player who is out of the team should aspire to be. Earlier in the season, Alex Moreno grabbed his spot at left-back but there was no sulking from Williams, just a desire to make sure the next opportunity didn’t pass him by.
He’s now firmly established as the team’s left-back. On this showing, perhaps he can nail down that position for many years to come and become a real fan favourite at the City Ground.
Neco Williams stats vs Manchester City
If Pearce was watching this from his hospital bed, there was only one left-back on show that he’d have been delighted for and it was Williams in the Garibaldi.
Williams has often operated at left-back for Wales but under Steve Cooper, it wasn’t something that became the norm with other options preferred.
Neco Williams stats vs Manchester City Total
Minutes 90
Tackles 4
Clearances 3
Passes 32
Who Scored Rating 7.19
Nuno Espirito Santo has seen something in the £17 million Williams, however, and right now he’s undroppable when it comes to the head coach’s team.
Williams has changed the opinion of his critics and on current form, there are signs that he’s going to develop into a top Premier League full-back on Forest’s watch.