Lingard is up and running
STEVE COOK insists his Nottingham Forest team-mate Jesse Lingard will prove his worth at the club after facing unfair criticism.
Lingard has struggled to pin down a regular starting place and has taken flak for his displays following a high-profile summer arrival from Manchester United.
The 29-year-old attacker finally got off the mark for the season in Forest’s 2-0 Carabao Cup triumph over Tottenham in midweek – also providing an assist.
“He’s obviously come here and received a lot of criticism, not from Forest fans, but those outside this club,” said Cook.
“It’s been unbelievably harsh.
“It’s part and parcel of playing for a big club and Jesse has had a fantastic career. He was superb against Spurs.
“When you don’t have a pre-season (Lingard joined as a free agent in late July) it sometimes takes time to get up to speed and he has been showing that in training.
“We know how good he is, as a player and as a lad as well. He’s great to have around the changing rooms.
“The social media side of things is a different side to what I know Jesse as. That brings a lot of eyes on him.
“But he is a great lad, one of the nicest guys I know.
“He is very down to earth and gives everything in training.
“We saw that on Wednesday and I’m sure he’ll kick on now.”
Forest, who entertain Crystal Palace today, are now unbeaten in their last four home games in all competitions and just three points adrift of safety heading into this final game before the World Cup break.
Defender Cook said: “Winning games breeds confidence. We beat a strong Tottenham team, not a lower league side.
“Palace is a huge game for us. We spoke about it this week and the points we want to have.” After winning promotion, Forest broke the English record for the most signings in one transfer window with 23 over the summer.
“We knew it would be a tough season and the circumstances this club would be under, bringing in so many players, was going to be difficult,” added Cook.
“But we felt if we were close to the teams in and around us at this break we would have a great chance of succeeding this year.”