Lewis O’Brien, a Nottingham Forest midfielder, has only recently returned from a terrible injury, yet he shone in Middlesbrough’s stunning victory over Leicester City.
Teesside Live was quite impressed by his performance and gave him a good rating. So, what precisely has been said about Forest’s O’Brien? Let’s look more closely.
Local media reacts to Lewis O’Brien’s performance versus Leicester.
O’Brien has had a terrible couple of years since Huddersfield fell to Forest in the Championship play-off final.
The 25-year-old joined Forest from the Terriers and played 17 games for the Reds in the first half of the season.
However, he was curiously left out of the 25-man squad for the second half of 2022/23, and instead joined D.C. United on loan.
In the summer, O’Brien was still unable to persuade Steve Cooper that he merited a spot in the Forest squad, therefore he joined Middlesbrough.
After only five games, calamity struck, and he needed surgery on a leg injury that would sideline him for four months.
Now on the mend, he played in his fifth consecutive game on Saturday and received a 9/10 rating from the local media.
According to Teesside Live, “After coming back from a serious injury, this was a performance of real quality that Boro expected when they signed him in the summer.”
“His energy throughout was second to none as well as supporting defensively, he seemed to be at the heart of almost every promising counter-attack Boro went on, including the first goal.”
O’Brien can grind his way back to the Premier League despite Forest’s collapse.
With how things turned out for O’Brien at Forest, it’s difficult not to sympathize with him.
When he signed, he was regarded as one of the best Championship midfielders, and he performed well in the games he played for the Reds.
Forest eventually opted to take a chance and sign stronger players, leaving O’Brien surplus. It’s safe to conclude that if Forest stay in the Premier League this season, O’Brien is unlikely to get a reprieve.
However, aged 25, he will be optimistic about his chances of becoming a regular in the Premier League with a club at some time in his career.
At the moment, it’s simply great to see O’Brien back in action, and Forest will be keeping an eye on things.
