Lolley good value for money
KARANKA BELIEVES WINGER HAS PROVED HIS WORTH AND THAT PORTUGUESE TRIO WILL DO THE SAME
JOE Lolley continues to show Nottingham Forest got a “very good” deal when they signed him from Huddersfield - and the Portuguese trio of Joao Carvalho, Gil Dias and Diogo Goncalves will soon be proving their worth, in similar fashion, says Aitor Karanka.
Winger Lolley arrived for an undisclosed fee - thought to be in the region of £1m - last January, signing a four-and-a-half year contract.
The former Huddersfield man has been in electric form in recent weeks, scoring three goals in his last four appearances for the Reds, including a spectacular strike against Middlesbrough during a game in which he also set up the second goal for Lewis Grabban.
Karanka is pleased to see the hardworking 26-year-old producing key moments in games - and making his signing look like an increasingly good move with each passing fixture.
“It was a very good deal... not just for the money, but because I knew him and when the club told me that he was available to sign, I did not have any doubt,” said Karanka.
“He knows this league, he is experienced, he has energy... he has everything.
“He deserves this more than anyone, because he is not a player
who always has those highlights in every game.”
Lolley has taken some of the spotlight off the Portuguese trio of Carvalho, Dias and Goncalves.
But Karanka remains convinced the trio will soon be making their own headlines, in similar fashion.
“The Portuguese will be doing the same thing in the future, for sure,” he said.
“The main thing for us was always to build a squad; to try to explain to the players and for them to understand that everyone will have their chance.
“I said always that with the level of this squad, playing Saturday/ Wednesday/saturday, we will win a lot of games.
“We had one day less to recover ahead of this game than Middlesbrough, because they played on Tuesday - and we were much better than them. That was particularly because I had five or six players who had not played and they were ready to come in.”