BIG BROTHER? WHAT A SHO
Sammy’s slump is over with a stunning double... thanks to some family advice
SAMMY AMEOBI admits his big brother Shola has helped him turn the corner on a dreadful season.
The Nottingham Forest winger had just one goal to his name and no assists before starring against Millwall.
Chris Hughton’s side, relegation-threatened for much of the campaign, have now pulled themselves six points clear of the drop zone with 16 per cent of their season’s goals scored in this one match.
And Ameobi, who was back to his best with two wonderful strikes, revealed how ex-Newcastle star Shola gave him the boost he needed. He said: “He’s been a massive influence on my life and a huge inspiration on and off the field.
“He’s been through everything I’ve been going through.
“He’s been very easy to talk to and get advice from. He said to me: ‘You’re in that situation, but you need to keep fighting and keep going’.
“He’s been in that situation many times so knows exactly what it’s like and he’s been a real help. I can’t explain why it was not happening earlier in the season. I don’t know.
“We’ve struggled for goals this season – creating and scoring them. It’s something we’ve had to work on.
“You can see the work we’re doing on the training field now. The manager’s encouraged us to take risks and take chances.
“Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
Forest were dominant against out-of-form Millwall with Ameobi’s 34th-minute strike going in via a slight deflection. His superb 70th-minute goal sealed the points with Ryan Yates adding a late third, before sub Ben Thompson grabbed the Lions’ consolation.
Ameobi reckons Forest can start to dream of better things at last after their collapse last term saw them miss out on the top six. He said: “We are still disappointed about last season, we know where we want to be and we know where this club deserves to be.
“We can go far higher and we look at the quality of the squad. But we will not get ahead of ourselves.”
It is just one win in 15 for Millwall who were poor and they are just seven points above the bottom three.
Manager Gary Rowett said: “Of course we’re concerned and need to pick up results.
“We need to start being more consistent. Our results have not been good enough.”
Samba 6, Christie 7, Worrall 7, McKenna 7, Ribeiro 6, Yates 8, Sow 6 (Taylor 72, 6), Ameobi 8, Cafu 7, Mighten 7 (Bong 82), Grabban 6
Bialkowski 6, Hutchinson 5, Pearce 5 (Bennett 64, 6), Cooper 5, McNamara 5, Leonard 6, Woods 6 (Thompson 78, 5), Malone 5, J Wallace 5 (Bodvarsson 79, 5), Zohore 4 (Smith 64, 6), Parrott 5 (Bradshaw 78, 5)