Sunday’s developments proved that West Ham and Everton would be right to move for Nottingham Forest player this summer: Opinion

The FA Cup has shone a light on some of Nottingham Forest’s biggest talents this season and Sunday’s game against Liverpool was no different.

They may have lost the semi-final 1-0 to Liverpool but Forest went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country and created enough chances to win the game.

In previous rounds, it has been Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson taking the plaudits but yesterday it was hard to look past the performance of captain and centre-back Joe Worrall.

With Scott McKenna missing, Steve Cooper was forced to play a back four – putting more pressure on Worrall ahead of a clash with a side battling for the Premier League and Champions League this season.

He certainly stood up to the challenge and proved that he was not at all out of place on the pitch with top flight opposition – picking up the man of the match award.

According to Wyscout, the 25-year-old won 10 of his 11 defensive duels (91% success), two of his three aerial duels, and 100% of both his loose ball duels and sliding tackles.

The centre-back also made seven interceptions, seven clearances, and 16 ball recoveries as he sniffed out and dealt with danger time and time again.

Worrall has been linked with a move to the Premier League consistently over the past few years and, according to The Sunday Mirror (March 20, page 71), Everton, Brighton, and West Ham United had representatives at Sunday’s game to keep a close eye on how he got on.

What they will have seen is a defender that is ready to make the step up to the top flight in the summer – whether that is with Forest or elsewhere.

A boyhood Forest fan, it’s hard to see Worrall leaving the East Midlands club should they secure promotion to the Premier League this season but if they