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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Nottingham Forest earned further bragging rights over Derby on Tuesday evening by defeating them 3-0 in the Carabao Cup.
The victory sees them progress into the third round of the competition when the Premier League’s elite, those competing in Europe this season, enter with the Reds also retaining the Brian Clough Trophy.
On the scoresheet was Albert Adomah, Joe Lolley and the returning Joao Carvalho, who fans were more than delighted to see back in training during the build-up to the match.
Forest are unbeaten in the Championship since losing their season opener against Midlands rivals West Brom, so the timely addition of the 22-year-old can only further boost their playoff-chasing ambitions this season.
On the Chalkboard
The 5 foot 8 Portuguese midfielder is the club’s record signing after he joined in a £13.2m deal from Benfica last summer.
He soon turned out to be one of their most influential players on the pitch as he racked up eight assists, only bettered by Lolley’s 11, and four goals – per WhoScored throughout 2018/19.
Carvalho also had the second-highest passing success rate in the team of any player who featured in 30 games or more at 78.4% – on top of averaging 1.2 key passes per match.
His return is even more impressive when you consider that he started just 28 Championship matches – only four of which were after the turn of the year.
Former boss Martin O’Neill seemed to favour other options, something that was somewhat bizarre considering the goal contributions he had been managing.
Carvalho has missed the opening weeks of the new campaign after picking up an ankle problem in Forest’s first pre-season encounter so as proceedings ramp up, his return could inspire the side onto greater things.
Under Sabri Lamouchi this season, he could play a big part, especially if you considering his impact in 33 minutes against Derby and his record last season.
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