Still only 18 years young, in recent matches Nottingham Forest Manager Chris Hughton has turned to his teenage sensation and asked him to do men’s work, after impressing in his first ever 90 minutes in the league away at Brentford a week on Saturday gone, where he had a hand in the equalising goal, surely the young American born star will deserve a chance to perform again as the Reds take on Cardiff City this weekend?

Mighten has been given opportunity largely due to the form and fitness of others. Whilst the now injured Joe Lolley had looked lost of confidence all season long, Luke Freeman looks lost of fitness and still over 6 months into the campaign doesn’t seem to be any sharper than the day he signed, loan capture Anthony Knockaert has also failed to deliver the quality he’s shown at some of his previous clubs, the Reds joint top goalscorer with Lyle Taylor on 4 this season is OWN GOAL which tells you all you need to know.

Under Hughton, Forest have become hard to beat, resilient, defensively solid and well-structured, but an attacking force they are not. They weren’t under Lamouchi either, nor O’Neill, it was never going to get better in that department overnight.

Whilst Sammy Ameobi has done ok, recent signing Filip Krovinovic has only sometimes shown promise in the attacking department behind the main striker(s) who themselves (Murray, Grabban, Taylor) have all too often underwhelmed, the biggest disappointment for Forest this season is Joe Lolley who is now out for the remainder injured, hamstring ending his campaign prematurely, but it was a poor campaign which never got started for the former Huddersfield winger, 28 matches and one goal compared to his returns of 9 and 11 the previous two seasons. The loss in those regular flashes of brilliance, the wonderful left foot he possesses, the trickery down the right flank before cutting in and firing home… Those seven or eight more goals and a few extra assists on top could really have pushed Forest up the league had he been in top form.

Luke Freeman looked a decent acquisition from Sheffield United in the summer, 18 apps 1 goal again suggesting that the Reds have a player who has ‘underperformed’. Knockaert’s 2 in 28 ever-so slightly better from a man that was supposed to be Chris Hughton’s ‘key’ attacking cog.

You cannot blame the Manager in turning to youth.

Currently away on international duty with the England U19’s, Mighten has grown in performance since his starting debut last January in the FA Cup at Chelsea, and looks like a talented boy, who isn’t afraid to run at defenders with electrifying pace and energy. He has two goals for the season in his 16 apps (a better goals ratio than Freeman, Knockaert and Lolley in less games) but according to our researcher Louis Wheeldon, it is the way he plays which gives Forest another dimension, perhaps in which they miss when they are without him.

Wheeldon states on his from12yards blog “Alex Mighten possesses a dynamic and explosive degree of pace and skill that is quickly making him appear to be one of the most exciting to watch talents in the Championship. So much so, he is receiving treatment from opposition players designed to stop him in the only way that appears possible; persistent and tactical fouling.

“Mighten is a foul magnet, his tricky and dribble-happy playing style lends himself to being targeted by opposition defenders. On average he has drawn around 2 fouls a game in his professional career so far, an impressive record.

“Having a player of this type at Forest helps them massively. In Hughton’s system, Forest very much like to dictate the speed of the game around them to a pace that they are comfortable with. This usual slow and methodical approach to games allows Mighten to pick the ball up and accelerate away at his own pace, as a wide man, using his own ability on the ball to hasten counter attacks. If this explosiveness and unpredictability from the youngster cannot be defended against, then he is usually fouled, which is beneficial to Forest as it further allows them to control the pace of the game through set-piece routines.”

Another quality in young Mighten’s game is that he is not afraid to run with the ball in order to try and make things happen. Wheeldon states “As mentioned before, Mighten is also very impressive on the ball as well. He completes an average of 5 successful take-ons per game this season, which is one of the highest in the Forest squad so far. Already at this age can you find internet compilations of his marvellous skill, particularly against Millwall, Cruyff-turning away from one defender and rolling it through the legs of another before carving out a chance.

“Mighten represents a player with a real X-factor at Forest. Explosive, raw and very very fast, he brings a dynamic to the team that we aren’t particularly used to seeing. A pass accuracy of 80% also suggests that he can excel on the technical side of the game as well; smart finishes against both Blackburn and Millwall and his playmaking performance against Sheffield Wednesday shown this to be the case. He averages a shot per game this season across 16 appearances and 8 starts, registering 2 goals, with both displaying a real poacher’s attitude, latching onto the half chance and dispatching calmly and with confidence.”

It will be interesting to see whether Hughton’s growing fondness of the young forward will lead to more game time for Mighten which might be the buzz that boosts Forest to the levels they know they can (and should) get to before the season end.

Mighten has already attracted the big boys with the likes of Liverpool rumoured amongst the growing number of fans this week, scoring for England in a thumping win against Arsenal U19’s shows he’s good enough to do it against and alongside the best youngsters in the country, now can he continue to do it in the Championship, and help take Forest away from danger towards a pleasant run in of matches that can continue to progress his own incredible potential.

*Main image @NFFC Alex Mighten scoring his first-ever home goal against Blackburn Rovers for Forest.