Jonjo Shelvey was ‘ordered’ to stay at home after his furious reaction to being told that he would be on the bench against Liverpool, according to stunning reports.
The 31-year-old former Swansea City midfielder left Newcastle in January and inked a two-and-a-half-year deal with Nottingham Forest.
Shelvey was not included in the matchday squad for the trip to Anfield on Saturday, with Forest suffering a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the Forest player was informed that he would be a substitute for the Liverpool match and took ‘umbrage’ with the decision.
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The newspaper reports that Forest boss Steve Cooper ‘excluded’ him from his team selection after Shelvey ‘reacted badly to the team selection.’
Shelvey, who has been dealing with a slight knock to his calf, was an unused substitute in his side’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at City Ground earlier this month.
It is now believed that the former Newcastle and Liverpool midfielder is ‘facing a battle to win back his starting place’ under Cooper.
Shelvey was left out of the Forest squad for their Premier League clash against Liverpool after a ‘confrontation’ following a team meeting.
The former England international has made eight appearances for Forest since his move from St James’ Park, with six of those appearances coming as starts.
Cooper’s men are currently 19th in the Premier League table -- three points ahead of 20th-place Southampton -- with six league matches remaining.
Forest are one point adrift of 18th-place Everton and 17th-place Leicester City, with Cooper’s side to host Brighton at City Ground on Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of the Brighton clash, Cooper insisted that Forest are coming up against a “really tough opponent” amid his side’s Premier League relegation battle.
“Brighton have quite rightly been getting a lot of praise for the season they’re having,” he said in his press conference on Monday.
“When you play an opponent you study them a lot more and they seem like a really aligned and joined up club who are very clear about how they do everything and that’s very much been taken on to the pitch this season.
“They will be a really tough opponent, but one that we’re preparing well for and one we will be ready for.
“There’s a lot more scrutiny on games and results at the moment, but we’ve got to look after ourselves.
“It’s at the City Ground and we know that we can have good times there, so we’re going to give everything we can to make Wednesday another good night.”
Topics: Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz