New signing Tyrese Fornah ready to star at Shrewsbury Town

The 22-year-old Nottingham Forest midfielder – who has made three first-team appearances for the Championship club this season – is set to go straight into the squad for Saturday’s trip to Bolton.

And after finally making the move to Shropshire – after a months-long pursuit by Town boss Steve Cotterill – he has been handed the No.8 shirt.

“I’m very excited, I’m just looking forward to getting started,” said Fornah. “It just made sense to get my head down here, work hard, and hopefully play and enjoy my football again.

“The boys are nice, the people behind the scenes at the club are really good people so yeah, it’s a really good place to be.

“They’re (the players) a funny group but really nice though, they’re really caring, they’ve looked after me so far and I’m one of the lads now so hopefully, we can fight for each other for the rest of the season and get the results for the fans.

“I know Nathanael [Ogbeta] quite well, we’re in the same church group, so we’re quite good friends off the pitch and yeah, it’ll be good to play with him now.

“The gaffer said to come here and enjoy my football. He knows what type of player I am; he knows I like to get on the ball and pass the ball and be confident.

“I’m not in a hurry to pass the ball, I like to take my time on the ball and make the right decisions with the ball as well and I’ll just be confident and believe in myself as well. The gaffer has put his trust in me to just go out there and do what I do best on the pitch.

“I’m somebody who likes to get on the ball, get the ball from deep off the centre-backs and try to play forward and be calm on it.

“Whenever I have the space, I like to drive forward with the ball and be brave with it.”

This will be Fornah’s second loan spell, having featured 44 times for Plymouth Argyle during a season-long stay last year.

Cotterill attempted to get the deal done in the summer, and was pleased to finally get it over the line in this transfer window.

He said: “We’re very happy to have Ty, he’s a player we had our eye on last summer when Chris Hughton was in charge of Forest but that one couldn’t materialise at the time. We revisited it in this window because we do need another midfielder in there so we’re pleased to have Tyrese in the building.

“He’s a very good lad, nice lad, and I’m sure he’ll fit in. It’s a position we’ve been light in so far this season but to be fair to the boys who are already there, we’ve been quite strong in midfielder so far and Tyrese will add that little bit more in there should we fall short through suspensions or injuries.

“He’ll bring his defensive qualities more than anything else. He sits and passes it, and that allows us to make some movements in the squad and we’re really happy to have him.”

The midfielder began his career with Brighton & Hove Albion before moving to Forest’s under-23 set-up in 2018.

He spent 18 months at the club before signing a loan deal with Porteugese side Casa Pia AC in early 2020 – however that spell was cut short due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

His next loan spell proved to be more productive – as he racked up 44 appearances during the 2020/21 season at Plymouth.

On returning to Forest, Fornah penned a new deal with the club until 2024 – and so far this season he has played every minute for the club in the Carabao Cup.