Nottingham Forest remain on course for Champions League football after winning 4-2 at Ipswich Town on Saturday.
A couple of Anthony Elanga goals and a Nikola Milenkovic strike had the Reds 3-0 up after 40 minutes, with Jota Silva adding another late in the piece.
Jens Cajuste and George Hirst scored for the home outfit but their goals proved to be nothing more than scant consolation for the Tractor Boys.
Morgan Gibbs-White was called into the England squad shortly after the game and he joins a number of his teammates in going away on international duty.
Forest sit in third place in the Premier League table and with Brighton, Manchester City and Chelsea all dropping points, the Reds were the real winners during game week 29.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Alan Shearer names two Nottingham Forest players in Team of the Week
The first to get the nod from the Premier League pundit is Milenkovic – and it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
His finish was stereotypical of a finish produced by a central defender as he rifled an unstoppable effort into the net after some good work from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Nicolas Dominguez.
Shearer said on the Premier League’s website: “Scored the first goal at Ipswich, but not with his head as you’d expect from such a powerful centre-back. Took the ball down and smashed it in.”
MORE FOREST STORIES
The other to win praise was two-goal hero, Elanga who scored two goals in the same game for the first time during his career.
The pundit said on the winger: “A magnificent display from the Swede, who scored two wonderful goals, causing the Ipswich defence no end of problems from a more central role.”
Morgan Gibbs-White probably deserved Team of the Week call
Shearer has spoken fondly of Forest this season and more often than not he includes Reds stars in his Team of the Week.
However, it’s a surprise that Gibbs-White hasn’t got the nod this week largely due to Shearer waxing lyrical about the player on Match of the Day.
Morgan Gibbs-White stats vs Ipswich Total
Minutes 88
Pass Accuracy 66.7%
Assists 1
Key Passes 3
Who Scored Rating 7.44
Danny Murphy also praised Gibbs-White for his efforts this season on the same show and it’s clear that he has a growing fan base away from the City Ground.
Ultimately, Shearer can’t pick every Forest player every week but the omission of Gibbs-White is perhaps the pick that causes most intrigue this weekend.