Explained: Why Jonjo Shelvey was told to 'stay at home' for Nottingham Forest's defeat to Liverpool
- Midfielder joined Reds in January
- Unhappy at being dropped
- Now faces a fight for his future
WHAT HAPPENED? The 31-year-old midfielder, who has six England caps to his name, only moved to the City Ground in January when severing ties with Newcastle and penning a two-and-a-half-year contract on Trentside. Questions are already being asked of his future at Forest after Steve Cooper opted to leave him out of matchday plans for a trip to Merseyside.
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WHY WAS SHELVEY LEFT OUT? According to The Telegraph, Shelvey – who had been nursing a slight knock in the build up to the game – was told to stay away following a confrontation in a team meeting. The enigmatic playmaker is said to have reacted angrily to being informed that he would be on the bench against one of his former clubs, leading to him being dropped completely.
AND WHAT'S MORE: Shelvey has taken in eight appearances for Forest so far, but he has struggled to make the desired impact and was set to find himself among the substitutes at Anfield after making a costly error in a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa that saw him tee up Bertrand Traore for the opening goal of the game.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE: With Shelvey elsewhere, Forest suffered an agonising 3-2 defeat against Liverpool – with more questionable defending contributing towards them dropping precious points in an ongoing battle to avoid relegation out of the Premier League.
WHAT'S NEXT: Shelvey now faces a battle to win his place back, with Cooper looking for everybody in the Forest camp to start pulling in the same direction, and the Reds will be back in action on Wednesday when playing host to FA Cup semi-finalists Brighton.