Homegrown players are still the key to long-term prosperity Mighten is biding time as he looks to make a big impact
CHRIS Hughton will already be well aware of the pressure of being Nottingham Forest manager.
The desire of owner Evangelos Marinakis to deliver Premier League football, combined with the weight of history, means the man in the hot seat is always feeling the heat to some degree.
Forest might be two-time European Cup winners but they have also spent 21 years outside of the elite.
So long away from the top table makes for a hungry owner and fan base, especially after prolific investment in the current squad, but if Hughton does take Forest back up, he will cement an immediate legacy of success.
However, supporters and potentially the club accountants will be grateful is he also guards a second legacy, this one of consistent recent success - Forest’s reputation and record of producing their own players.
Joe Worrall, Ryan Yates, Alex Mighten, Jordan Smith and (admittedly a little while ago) Michael Dawson are current first team squad members to come through the Nigel Doughty Academy.
Brennan Johnson, Jake Taylor, Tyrese Fornah, Jordan Gabriel and Jayden Richardson are among a clutch of players waiting in the wings.
They are all out on loan as the club looks to nurture their progress and Hughton insists he is “very conscious” of Forest’s reputation, although it is not something that heavily influences his decision-making.
“It’s not something that plays on my mind because I’m here and that’s the reputation of the club - it should be the case at every club,” he said.
“The money that is spent on academies is to develop players in our first team, if not the first team of another club.
“That should be the case everywhere and I’m very conscious of that here. We’ve got a big squad but there are good training days where you want to have a good look at the young ones.
“First and foremost it’s about these next few first team games, a heavy period of games but I’ll always take an interest in the academy.”
By his own admission, Hughton’s priority is the first team as he looks to continue building a solid platform to climb the Championship after going unbeaten in his first three games in charge.
That means that, as ever, some of the onus for young players reaching their potential falls on Gary Brazil, the long-standing mastermind of the academy who was recently promoted to director of football development, along with his staff.
The two will communicate closely during Hughton’s tenure with Brazil at the heart of the club’s best work.
“I’ve known Gary for years. He’s a very good football man,” Hughton said.
“I’m delighted he’s got his new role. I don’t think the communication will change.
“I’ve spoken to him on numerous occasions since I’ve been here and that will continue.
“Even without his new role that would have continued. My absolute priority is about getting results for the first team.
“You can’t be a manager of a first team and not want the development of the club to be correct. You want academy players to come through and academy players to train with the first team at the right time.”
Brazil and the Academy have had a massive impact on keeping the club on the right side of Financial Fair Play rules in recent years.
The sales of Oliver Burke, Ben Brereton, Arvin Appiah, Ben Osborn and Matty Cash have netted Forest around £45m in transfer fees since 2016.
Worrall and Mighten are the latest players tipped for bright futures with high market values as the club looks to strengthen their academy by achieving category one status.
Worrall is out with a foot injury and Mighten is yet to get on the pitch under Hughton having been an unused substitute in all three of his matches.
The new boss says he is fully aware of England Under-19 winger’ Mighten’s potential as he works to balance player development with picking up wins in the here and now.
“It’s a really good balance. There is a difference between developing a young player to come into your team and a young player who is already in the first team group in Alex Mighten,” Hughton said.
“It’s not a question of developing him to see if he’s good enough,
he’s already shown his ability. The balance is the type of games we’ve got and balancing the squad.
“You want someone like him to be in the mix of the squad.
“It’s about right time, whether he plays well, whether it’s the right game for him.
“He’s in a good place.”
TEENAGER Alex Mighten says new Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton has been offering advice about how he can improve, as he looks to continue his progress this season.
Mighten has yet to feature for Hughton, having been an unused substitute for his first three matches in charge.
But he says the former Brighton and Newcastle United manager is aware of his potential to have an impact on games.
With plenty of competition for a place in the team, it is now about biding his time.
“He’s spoken to me personally, just trying to get to know me and get some more information on me as a player,” said Mighten.
“He said that he has watched me a few times and knows how I can hurt the opposition and help the team.
“He has gone through some ways that he thinks I can improve and looked at different elements.
“The first impressions of him have been very good, you can tell he is very well drilled and very experienced with what he has done previously.
“Obviously, he has been promoted and been in the Premier League and he has done a very good job with us so far.
“We are trying to learn his style of play and I think that together we will get that very quickly.”
It was former head coach Sabri Lamouchi who handed Mighten his debut for the club last term.
And the Frenchman also picked the 18-year-old for his first league start, in what proved to be his final game in the dugout - the 2-1 defeat to Bristol City earlier this month.
On his own start to the campaign, Mighten told the club programme: “It has been difficult because the team has been in a difficult situation, but I have just tried to affect the games when I have come on.
“I was lucky enough to get my first league start, against Bristol City and, despite the result, I tried and really gave it a go.
“I felt I had some decent opportunities and I tried to create for the team, but it just didn’t go our way in the end.
“I want to keep trying to affect the games when I get the opportunity.
“I was feeling nervous before that first start. The league is the priority and we will always do our best in the league to achieve our goals. “It was my first league start, so I was always going to be a bit nervy. But once I got out there and had my first few touches, those nerves went out the window and I just tried to play my normal game.
“For a young player, you need a run of games to build the confidence that allows you to go out there and be yourself on the pitch.
“I think as time has gone on, I have been allowed that and I can only get better from here.
“I just want to keep trying to get my opportunity, and hopefully I can take it.”
The Reds find themselves towards the bottom end of the table, having lost their opening four Championship fixtures under Lamouchi.
But Mighten is confident they can quickly get back on track to push for promotion.
“There is plenty of time as it is a long season,” he said.
“We have a lot of games coming up so it is a good opportunity to get some points on the board and get some good results.
“That is what the manager is here for and what he is trying to help us do.”