Garth Crooks has raved about one Nottingham Forest player after they beat Sheffield United in the Premier League.
The Reds had a lot of strong performers during the win at Bramall Lane.
Two goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and a Ryan Yates strike ensured that Ben Brereton Diaz’s penalty proved in vain.
Forest needed the three points against the Blades and they now have a three-point gap over Luton.
Fans weren’t happy yesterday when it was announced that Forest had seen their appeal was rejected.
Now, they know that it’s likely to take one more win to guarantee Premier League football for another season at least.
After the game on Saturday, Crooks has named his Team of the Week – and he’s lauded one Forest player.
Garth Crooks hails Nottingham Forest star Willy Boly
It’s fair to say that Willy Boly has been a very underrated player in the Forest team this season when he’s played.
The problem has been getting him on the pitch on enough occasions.
Boly went to the African Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast but returned with an injury
As a result, it’s been a long road back for Boly and Forest will hope he can stay fit for a couple more games this season.
Crooks was impressed with his performance in South Yorkshire on Saturday and named Forest star Boly in his Team of the Week.
He told BBC Sport: “It was the tackle on Gustavo Hamer by Forest stalwart Willy Boly that created the opening for Callum Hudson-Odoi to score his second goal and wrap this match up.
“Sheffield United had a real go at Forest and it took some impressive defending by Boly in particular to keep the Blades at bay.
“Boly and Murillo were superb at Bramall Lane and their presence will be crucial in the club’s remaining two matches at Chelsea and Burnley.”
Forest have big decision to make on Boly
It’s getting towards the end of the campaign and some big decisions will need to be made by Forest on certain players.
Boly is going to be out of contract in the summer and Forest have to decide whether to give him another deal.
Naturally, his advancing age of 33 would make it an easy call but this could save Forest a fortune defensively.
Signing new players will be a must for the Reds and ultimately, Boly is a proven defender in the Premier League.
However, he is injured a lot and that might make Forest think twice when it comes to offering him a fresh deal.
Willy Boly has been impressive this season
Despite playing just 18 games for Forest this season, Boly’s numbers are pretty good.
Who Scored shows that he’s won 52 of the 77 aerial challenges he’s contested – the fourth-best Forest player in the air this season.
He’s actually won more headers than Ryan Yates and Murillo across the campaign.
His tackling is strong too and he’s made 43 tackles during his time on the pitch in 2023/24.
Boly doesn’t get dribbled past too often either and has only suffered that fate on 12 occasions across the campaign.
These numbers will all go into Forest’s thinking when it comes to making a decision on Boly.
Given that he earns just £46,000-a-week at Forest he will hardly break the bank and perhaps these stats might just sway the club to offer Boly something.
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