Star man Bow going nowhere says Nigel
NIGEL ADKINS insists he has no plans to sell Jarrod Bowen after the forward turned in a star performance for Hull against Forest.
The Reds had dumped holders Arsenal out in round three but had no answer to Bowen – who scored the first and created the second for Nouha Dicko as well as being involved in the majority of the Tigers’ most threatening moments.
Bowen has been linked with a move to the Premier League ahead of Wednesday’s transfer deadline but Adkins is adamant the club are not looking to lose the striker.
“You just don’t sell him,” he said. “We’re not looking to sell him.”
Asked if there had been any bids Adkins added: “Not that I’m aware of.”
Both teams made a host of changes to their starting line-ups and unsurprisingly the early stages of the game were disjointed as a result.
But Bowen – one of three Hull players to retain their places from the defeat at Sunderland last week – brought the game to life with two moments of quality in as many minutes.
First he latched on to Jordan Smith’s wayward clearance and hit a first-time lob which left the keeper stranded but came back off the post.
He then gave the hosts the lead after 18 minutes when he drove into the box and his deflected effort went in off the woodwork.
Five minutes before the break Hull doubled their advantage, with Bowen nodding the ball back across goal for Dicko to finish.
The Tigers had further chances and were almost made to pay for missing them when Apostolos Vellios struck two minutes from time to set up a tense finish.
Forest boss Aitor Karanka felt his side may have become complacent after winning at Championship leaders Wolves last time out.
“We won last Saturday and we thought today that it was going to be easier,” he said.
“I told them during the week that it would be a hard game.
“It is a day for us to learn that we need to improve our personality and character.”