Brennan Johnson among Nottingham Forest academy players to shine in friendly win

Brennan Johnson scored in his first outing back with Nottingham Forest following a loan spell at Lincoln City.

A lot has been said about the young attacking midfielder since his excellent displays at the LNER Stadium. A tally of 13 goals in 48 games across all competitions – and a further 14 assists – made him a real threat in League One.

And the 20-year-old backed up some of the expectations with a bright performance in Forest’s 2-1 friendly win over Alfreton Town.

Whilst not too much can be taken from a narrow pre-season victory over a team four divisions below Forest, the talented forward showed hints of quality as Reds fans returned to the terraces for the first time since March 2020.

Assessing the outing at Alfreton, Hughton said: “It’s our first game so there’s always going to be areas where we can do better, but more importantly it’s about getting 45 minutes on the pitch for each player and making sure everyone gets through unharmed.

“Pre-season is a good opportunity for some of the younger players and returning players to impress. It’s a testing period for everyone and it’s about making sure that we are where we want to be by the end of this pre-season period.”

The Reds dominated proceedings against their National League North opposition, but it was the performances from a number of academy and returning players that took the headlines.

Brennan Johnson and Will Swan – both players to have emerged from the Nigel Doughty Academy in recent months and years – provided Forest with the goals either side of a tap-in from Shaun Tuton.

First team manager Chris Hughton named an experienced team for the first-half against Alfreton. Almost a thousand Football League appearances were shared between Brice Samba, Ryan Yates, Jack Colback, and Lewis Grabban.

Equally, however, the defensive line included just one first-team player in Loic Mbe Soh and the average age was just 21.

It was no surprise that the young defenders struggled to beat heavyweight forward Matt Rhead to aerial balls, but they reduced the former Lincoln City to only long-range efforts.

Alfreton hardly threatened Forest in the opening 45 minutes but provided a good account of themselves.

The Reds, on the other hand, showed great attacking pedigree and Grabban, Mighten and Johnson combined to produce the opening goal on 18 minutes.

Having controlled the ball well 35 yards out, Grabban slotted the ball between two Alfreton defenders for Johnson to run onto; the young attacking midfielder – who was on fine form at Lincoln City last season, scoring 13 goals in 48 games in all competitions – made no mistake in placing a shot across George Willis into the bottom corner.

Johnson has left an impression on Chris Hughton following his season at Lincoln City and is a firm candidate to be involved within the first-team picture this campaign.

But Johnson was not the only academy player to produce a positive performance at the Impact Arena as Baba Fernandes, Ateef Konate, Olli Hammond and Will Swan all shone.

Swan’s outing in the second half will stand out for his composed finish three minutes before full-time after a tidy through ball from Nuno da Costa.

Aside from that, however, he had a number of off-the-ball runs which allowed his teammates to enter space behind him.

Fernandes, partnering Mbe Soh in central defence for the first half, gave a good account for himself too; the occasional sign of weakness would be a slight negative but then again, he was up against the ever-so physical Rhead.

Combining with Grabban, Johnson and Alex Mighten, Ateef Konate fitted in well to an attacking diamond. The academy winger occupied the space on the right wing and almost had a goal to his name shortly after Johnson’s opener, but he was unable to connect with the loose ball when it fell to his feet.

Hammond also came close when his effort from a tight angle bounced off the crossbar, but the central midfielder was being deployed as a right-winger.

Little can be taken at such an early stage of pre-season but Forest fans will be pleased by what they saw from their academy prospects.

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