Jota Silva could prove to be an unlikely hero for Nottingham Forest, writes TOM COLLOMOSSE… as Champions League hopefuls prepare to host Everton without key strikers
In the best stories, sometimes the unlikeliest characters write the most memorable chapters.
Nottingham Forest’s marvellous season has been built on the goals of Chris Wood, the saves of Matz Sels, the superhuman defending of Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic and the magic of Morgan Gibbs-White. Not to mention the work of Ola Aina, Neco Williams, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga on the flanks.
But with the finishing line in sight, a Jack Grealish lookalike with a knack for shaking things up hopes to play a leading role in the race for Champions League football. Forest have a five-point gap to sixth-placed Manchester City with seven games left.
Forest lost 2-1 at Aston Villa last weekend but their fine second-half display was inspired by Jota Silva. Replacing the injured Elanga at the interval, the Portuguese scored Forest’s goal and unsettled Villa with his bustling style.
With his headband and floppy hair, Jota looks so similar to Manchester City attacker Grealish that some Villa fans might have wondered why their former hero had suddenly appeared in a Nottingham Forest shirt.
And with Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi’s fitness continuing to cause concern, Nuno Espirito Santo may turn to Jota against Everton at the City Ground this weekend.
Jota Silva could prove to be a hero for Nottingham Forest in the absence of key strikers
The Portuguese forward scored off the bench in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa
Chris Wood suffered a badly-bruised hip last month and has missed recent matches
Though he has mainly been used wide by Forest as back-up for Elanga or Hudson-Odoi, Jota knows how to operate through the middle and has played there for Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes, who earned £6million when he moved to Forest last summer.
While he has started only four times in the league, Jota has managed three goals and an assist this term, at a rate of a goal every 256 minutes.
The 25-year-old’s former coach Joao Ferreria told Mail Sport: ‘Jota grew up as a youth player, but he also spent several periods as a senior playing as a number 9 or in a two-man attack. In these spaces he’s able to get closer to the opponent’s goal.
‘He’s a player who finishes well with either foot and with his head. In the last game he scored with his left foot. The closer he is to the opponent’s goal, the better it is for him. He jumps very well, his heading is very precise and he has scored several goals like that in his career. It’s a space where he knows how to play very well and feels comfortable.’
Wood suffered a badly-bruised hip while on international duty with New Zealand last month and though Forest were optimistic at first that the problem was not serious, their top scorer has missed the last two league fixtures, against Manchester United and Villa, as well as the win over Brighton on penalties in the FA Cup.
With Awoniyi also absent, Forest lacked bite in the first half at Villa. When they found space in wide areas, there was no Wood waiting in the box when the wingers looked up. So the ball would be worked back again, the chance lost. ‘Football is about strikers,’ reflected Nuno.
Jota provided more of an aerial threat in the second half and has won 44 per cent of his duels in the air this season, compared with 40 per cent for Wood and 26 for Awoniyi.
Ferreria worked with Jota at lower-league club SC Espinho and has seen enough of him to believe he can deliver as a centre-forward.
While he has started only four times in the league, Jota has managed three goals and an assist
Nuno Espirito Santo (left) is hopeful of having key players return to fitness this weekend
He said: ‘Jota is useful to the team. He’s different sort of player from Wood and Awoniyi. He’s more mobile, he’s more useful in attacking from deep. He knows how to play with his back to goal and doesn’t give a fixed target to markers. He’s a player who can be successful in all three forward positions, he works hard and he is very strong at pressing.
‘He fits in very well, whatever his task. He understands the game well and knows how to play for the team. He’s able to adapt to the team’s needs.’
Asked whether Wood, Awoniyi or Elanga could recover to take on Everton, Nuno said: ‘We are still assessing all of them. They are struggling with problems – some small, some not so small – but we have to assess them. We have one more day and then we will see if they can be available for the game.
‘We are hopeful on all of them. It can be all of them or it can be none, we don’t know. It depends on how they recover and how they feel.
‘We miss all the players when they are not available.
Chris has been giving us so many things. Unfortunately, the situation with Taiwo happened at the same time.’
