Joe Worrall has emerged as a Nottingham Forest fan favourite upon recent years. After struggles of maintaining a secure spot in the centre of defence under Aitor Karanka, a loan spell under Steven Gerrard at Rangers would unlock the confidence and identity of the 24-year-old to eventually become a key figure at the heart of the Forest defence.<\/p>\n
Having captained the club on various occasions and leading the defensive line in either a back three, four or five, Worrall has been the first defensive name on the team sheet over the past three seasons when uninjured.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the last few seasons, Worrall has improved his concentration levels, defensive ability, passing range and versatility. He is now showing that he can operate as a two with Tobias Figueredo or Scott McKenna and that he can also play on the right-hand side of a back three with the aforementioned.<\/p>\n
With Premier League outfits including Brentford, Southampton, and West Ham, linked to lure the reds centre half to the top tier of English football, the locally born academy graduate is continuing to show this season why Premier League clubs will want to circle around him come January. Statistics show that though Worrall missed the beginning of the season through injury, the Nottingham born man has continued to show his worth.<\/p>\n
Worrall averages 53.5 passes per game, short and long. The highlight pass being the diagonal ball over to Max Lowe that ended up being the assist for Brennan Johnson\u2019s goal against Blackpool. Of each pass throughout the season so far, Worrall has successfully completed 76% of them.<\/p>\n
With regards to defending, the reds centre-back successfully averages 1.5 tackles per game, 2.4 interceptions, 4.1 clearances and 0.8 blocks. This compared to Scott McKenna\u2019s 0.8 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, 3.4 clearances and 0.6 blocks shows that Worrall is putting up figures just as good as his counterpart and commands the back line extremely well.<\/p>\n
With that comparison in mind, a twitter poll was raised this week, asking Nottingham Forest fans where they would rank Joe Worrall amongst Forest centre halves of recent times. With the likes of Wes Morgan, Jack Hobbs, Michael Dawson and more in mind, 172 fans cast their vote.<\/p>\n
\n#NFFC<\/a> fans I need your help again!!<\/p>\n
Joe Worrall, where would you rank him amongst all of our centre halves of recent times?<\/p>\n
\u2014 Callum Castel-Nuovo (@callumcasteln) November 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n