100% defensive duels won, 9 interceptions: The unsung hero of Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup victory over Leicester City

For the second round in succession in this season’s FA Cup, Nottingham Forest triumphed over a Premier League side and subsequently reached the last 16 of the famous competition.

Not content with sending Arsenal packing from the City Ground in early January, the Reds wiped the floor with their Midlands rivals Leicester City on Sunday afternoon as they raced into a three-goal lead in the first half.

The Foxes quickly pegged a goal back but it ended up being insignificant as a Djed Spence goal in the second half to add to the ones netted by Philip Zinckernagel, Brennan Johnson and Joe Worrall sealed a memorable win at the City Ground.

There were many standout individual performances from Steve Cooper’s side, with Spence and Johnson as ever creating an impression and so did Aston Villa loanee Keinan Davis with a powerful display up-front.

However there was an unsung hero at the back in Steve Cook who went about his business quietly and is a player who deserves some recognition.

The 30-year-old was a January addition from AFC Bournemouth, ending his long-standing relationship with the Cherries to move north to join forces with Cooper and it was a deal that somewhat broke the club’s structure of signing younger players.

It’s evident though what his experience is bringing already, and his performance against the likes of Iheanacho, Harvey Barnes and James Maddison is testament to that.

His stat-lines from the match (via Wyscout) make for impressive reading – Cook won all six of his defensive duels in the match, made nine interceptions seven clearances and won two out of his three aerial duels.

It was a really dominant performance by not only Forest but Cook as well, who proved that he still has what it takes to perform against