Boss keeping options open in the defence

PLAYING a three-man central defence is ‘an option’ for Nottingham Forest, now that they have so many quality alternatives in that part of the pitch, says Aitor Karanka, pictured.

Michael Hefele joined the Reds in a £350k move from Premier League Huddersfield, to further strengthen an area of the team where the club are already very well stocked.

Michael Dawson, Joe Worrall, Tobias Figueiredo and Danny Fox were already fighting it out for a place in the heart of the back four, with Jack Robinson, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Thomas Lam all available as solid fall-back options.

The arrival of the 6ft 4in German will only add to that competition and Karanka confirmed that part of this thinking, in wanting to sign the 27-year-old, was because it would give Forest the choice of playing with three at the back, in certain fixtures, if he felt it was the right tactical choice.

Forest are likely to continue to favour Karanka’s preferred 4-2-3-1, but the manager is happy to have the flexibility to adapt to different formations.

“It is an option for us (playing with three at the back), because we have a lot of very good central defenders,” said Karanka.

“Now we have Michael Dawson, we have Foxy, we have Tobias, we have Worrall and Jack Robinson can play in that position.

“Even if we had not signed Hefele, we have enough to be able to play with three at the back.’’

Hefele is unlikely to make his Reds debut against Reading today, with Karanka more likely to want to give the new signing the chance to train with his new teammates for a few days, before he pitches him into the fray – particularly with so many quality options already at his disposal.

But the player, who won promotion from the Championship with Huddersfield just over a year ago, could get his first taste of the action when the Reds face Bury in the EFL Cup at the City Ground on Tuesday night.