Journalist Daniel Storey has claimed that Steve Cook has been vital for Nottingham Forest this season after he has used his experience to help the rest of the team.
Steve Cook was brought to Nottingham Forest on a free transfer from AFC Bournemouth in January and has featured 10 times in the Championship since. However, Cook is set to be sidelined for six weeks after picking up an ankle injury in the dying embers of the Reading game 10 days ago.
The 30-year-old’s injury has meant that Joe Worrall and Tobias Figueiredo have been the starting centre-backs for Forest and they both played 90 minutes in their side’s narrow 1-0 defeat against Liverpool in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Cook has made 140 appearances at Championship level, and whilst speaking on the Garibaldi Red podcast, Daniel Storey noted how important his experience is to the other defenders at the club.
(17:12) “He’s (cook) worked wonders for Worrall he’s clearly working with figs as well,” Storey said.
TIF Thoughts on Steve Cook…
The good thing about having a leader like Cook in your ranks is that even when he’s injured he can still have an influence behind-the-scenes, whether that’s giving advice or rallying the troops.
Steve Cook has made over 400 appearances in his footballing career so has a crazy amount of experience, which is something that Forest will hope they won’t miss too much right now as they push for the play-offs. They currently sit 9th in the Championship, three points off sixth with three games in hand.
Although Joe Worrall has been a mainstay for Forest this season, featuring 29 times in the Championship, he is still just 25-years-old so he can learn a lot from Cook who has made 168 appearances in the Premier League. Cook has shown that he can still cut it on the pitch as well this season with an average player rating of 7.15 over his last five Championship games, as per Sofascore.