Matty Cash has revealed he could have stayed at Nottingham Forest in 2020 if they had earned promotion to the Premier League.
The Reds were on course to reach the Championship play-offs in 2020 under Sabri Lamouchi after an impressive season. However, Forest failed to win in their final six games of the season and dropped out of the top six on the final day following a 4-1 home defeat to Stoke City.
Swansea City's 4-1 win on the same evening at Reading lifted Steve Cooper's side above Forest and Cash joined a long list of players that departed in the following summer. The 25-year-old joined Premier League side Aston Villa for £14m and has made 74 appearances for the West Midlands outfit.
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Two years since leaving the Reds, Cash has relived the heartbreak on Ben Foster's 'Fozcast' Podcast and explained how his career could have been "different" if they completed the job.
“In the January before the move, I had interest, but Forest were asking for quite a lot of money," he said.
"To be fair, we were flying in the Championship and I didn’t want to move because I had a good connection with the people there, the manager was really good with me and the fans were great with me.
"We had a chance to go up so I signed a new deal in January. I think we were top of the league in January and then we were third/fourth, we were six clear with two to play, with a plus four goal difference
“We played Barnsley away and then Stoke at home, we lost both. He rested me in the game against Barnsley because the play-offs were pretty much guaranteed. In the last game, we lost 4-1 and Swansea won 4-1. It was mental. We were gutted.
"Forest was unbelievable. I loved my time there. They were so good to me. I’ve still got a great connection there. That club’s done a lot for me.
"It was sort of an understandable move. If Forest had made it to the Premier League, it might have been different. Everyone understood and I’ve never had any bad comments from Forest fans."
Do you think Cash would have stayed if Forest were promoted in 2020? Have your say in the comments...
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