Nottingham Forest are the Notts Senior Cup champions after a 2-0 win over Basford United – and one man might have caught the eye of Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Forest B-Team have taken this competition seriously this year – and for that they deserve credit.
They had seen off Eastwood Community in the semi-final of the competition and came up against Basford last night.
In the earlier stages of the competition, Forest had looked good in games against Radford and Gedling MW.
It was a game thatForest never looked like losing and one man is in such good form that Espirito Santo simply can’t ignore him any longer.
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Nottingham Forest talent Esapa Osong deserves chance against Burnley
The Reds were comfortable throughout the clash, although Basford did stand firm until half-time when the scores were goalless.
Forest came back out with fire in their bellies though and Warren Joyce’s words clearly paid dividends.
It didn’t come as a surprise that it was Esapa Osong who opened the scoring on 52 minutes with a well-taken strike.
The player rounded off a sound few days by scoring in the game after he penned an extension to his existing deal.
Josh Powell added a second later on and former Forest midfielder Matt Thornhill also missed a penalty kick before the end.
It was the form of Osong, however, that caught the eye – and perhaps it’s time for Osong to get a chance in the first team.
Head of Academy Chris McGuane called him a ‘real threat’ after he penned his contract extension and he now has seven goals in eight games.
With Forest having little to play for on Sunday, it feels like the perfect chance to let him travel and potentially earn a shot from the bench.
At 19-years-old, Osong has been bagging for the academy ranks for a few years now and clearly, he looks like a talented boy.
WithTaiwo Awoniyi still fighting his way back to full fitness and Chris Wood in need of a rest, it does make sense to have another striker option in reserve.
As a result, we feel Espirito Santo should reward Osong for this showing when Forest head to Burnley this weekend.
Who is Esapa Osong?
The powerful striker came to Forest in 2017, initially going into the under-13 ranks and quickly working his way through to the under-18s.
Osong has always known where the back of the net is at Forest and he caught the eye of the Reds playing grassroots football in Leicestershire.
During his first season playing with the under-18s, he scored hat-tricks against Millwall and Leicester at under-19 level and also scored in the FA Youth Cup.
In 2021/22 as the first team were busy winning promotion, Osong was instrumental as the team reached the FA Youth Cup Final.
He helped the team set up a final date with Manchester United where they were unfortunately beaten 3-1 by the Red Devils.
Last season, he was handed a chance to gain some experience with the first team in the Carabao Cup.
The teenager was introduced as a substitute in the closing stages of a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in the semi-final second leg.
This season he’s played a lot of B-Team football and has scored against Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa most notably.
The future looks bright for Osong
Giving him a bit of a run from the bench on Sunday would be just reward for Osong after a fine Forest campaign.
Next season, however, the Reds might look to get the player on loan to get even more minutes playing men’s football under his belt.
Dale Taylor has been a strike partner of Osong’s at academy level and he’s now enjoyed positive spells with Burton and Wycombe.
That feels like one for Forest to look at this summer but in our view, he now deserves a place in Espirito Santo’s squad against Burnley following his recent performances at academy level.
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