Could Forest Hand Out Premier League Debuts To Academy Products?

Jimmy Sinclair & Archie Whitehall have been involved in the first team squad during Forest's recent injury crisis, let's take a quick look at their short careers and performances this season.

In the closing stages of last Thursday’s Europa League exit, Jimmy Sinclair was introduced, making his 2nd appearance in the competition after making his debut for the club against Malmo in late November.

Archie Whitehall has also joined Sinclair on the bench on 8 occasions in the Europa League, but didn’t make it onto the pitch. Then, on Sunday afternoon at home to Newcastle, both made their first Premier League squad appearances.

Although Forest are hoping to get some injured players back available for these last two games, with safety secured I do wonder if the club may potentially want to keep them involved, and maybe even get them on the pitch at Old Trafford on Sunday, or at The City Ground next weekend.

Jimmy Sinclair

In Sinclair’s early stages at the academy, he was mostly used as a right winger. But over the last couple of seasons, he’s moved back slightly and has played more often as a right back or a right wing back.

He made 37 appearances for the Forest B Team this season, including 3 in the PDL Playoffs these past couple of weeks, where he registered a goal and an assist. In more recent games though, interestingly Sinclair has found himself deployed on the left either as a left-back or a left wing-back.

This is interesting, as when he came on at Villa Park a couple of weeks ago, instead of moving Neco Williams back over to the left flank, Sinclair came on and filled in at left-wing back.

It’s common for players coming through academy sides to be tried in different positions, not just because a club may be trying to mould them into a different kind of player, but also so they can gain experience in different positions in-game. This means that on those occasions where they may find themselves temporarily filling in during a transition for example, they aren’t completely unfamiliar with playing in that area.

Sinclair’s data at PL2 level is encouraging - he ranks at or above the league average in all key attacking and possession metrics. Defensively, there is perhaps room for improvement, but that comes as no surprise considering he has only in the last couple of seasons transitioned into a deeper role.