Nottingham Forest must not axe Ousmane Diomande, his 97% and 80% stats show why
Nottingham Forest defender Ousmane Diomande must stay in their starting eleven for the visit of Coventry after he shone against Aston Villa.
Forest picked up their first win of the campaign on Saturday as they ran out 2-1 winners at Villa Park.
Igor Jesus' late strike handed Oliver Glasner his maiden competitive victory as the Reds' boss, as they now sit 11th in the top flight.
Glasner's side have a great chance to move into the top half before the international break as they host struggling Coventry this weekend.
Glasner must stick with Ivorian centre-back Diomande from the off against the Sky Blues after he was imperative to their first win of the campaign.
He shone on his first Premier League start for the club and deserves the chance to keep proving that he is worth every bit of the £34million they shelled out to sign him from Sporting CP in the summer.
Ousmane Diomande deserves another start vs Coventry after Aston Villa showing
Diomande was chased by several other Premier League clubs during the summer window, such as Leeds and Crystal Palace, but Forest won the race for his services in mid-August.
The deal initially looked as if it had fallen through, but sources exclusively revealed to Football Insider that Forest's hold-up to sign Diomande was purely down to a struggle to agree agent fees.
He has had to bide his time to make an impact in the Premier League, with injuries to Jair Cunha and Nikola Milenkovic meaning he was drafted in for his first start of the campaign against Villa.
Diomande emerged with excellent stats from the clash, such as 32/33 accurate passes (97 per cent accuracy), with nine of those being line-breaking passes.
He also made eleven clearances, won four of five aerial duels attempted (80 per cent), and was not dispossessed across the whole 97 minutes.
Diomande was one of Glasner's marquee signings of the summer, and the Coventry clash on home turf provides another great opportunity for him to impress and prove his worth.
Are Milenkovic and Cunha fit to face Coventry?
Glasner could face a dilemma in defence this weekend after some fine performances at Villa Park.
Ola Aina also moved to centre-back in the wake of the two aforementioned injuries, but he could be dropped as Daniel Munoz shines at right wing-back.
Glasner admitted after the clash that he is "hopeful" of Cunha being fit, but Milenkovic's injury is "a bit more serious" and he will definitely not be available this weekend.
Murillo was also a question mark with a knee issue ahead of Villa, but he played on the left of the back three, so it remains to be seen if he remains fit for the visit of the Sky Blues.