Former Nottingham Forest man Zach Clough paved the way for an incredible comeback as he continues to get his career back on track in Australia.
His current club, Adelaide United, were trailing 2-0 to Western United midway through the second half earlier today (Saturday), only for Clough to fire home a cutback from the right into the roof of the net. The goal revitalised Adelaide who, incredibly, went on to win the game.
Ryan Kitto made it 2-2 on 76 minutes and Craig Goodwin's penalty, four minutes from time, completed a remarkable turnaround. The win saw third-placed Adelaide keep pace with top two Melbourne City and Central Coast Mariners. Clough joined the South Australia club a year ago after a series of unsuccessful moves in England.
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He arrived at Forest in January 2017 from Bolton Wanderers amid plenty of expectation, but struggled to make an impact. He made just 31 appearances and scored four goals in a four-year spell which also included a series of loan moves, eventually leaving permantly for Wigan Athletic.
He moved on to Carlisle United in the summer of 2021 but saw his contract with the Cumbrians terminated by mutual consent a year ago, freeing up him up to join Adelaide, initially on loan.
Reflecting on his time at Forest and the merits of playing in the A-League, Clough told the Mirror last year: “I was at Forest for a long time and wasn’t playing for 18 months to two years and it was tough. To get your body back to where it was before that period, it takes a long time.
“I was probably getting a bit frustrated with myself by my standard when I wasn’t playing. But it took so much time to get my body right, I was picking up so many niggles in England, and with the amount of games you have, it is really hard to get back to the level you were at.
“Over here [Australia], there are less games, you get more time to recover in games, and I feel like it has really helped to get my body to where I felt I was. Adelaide has been really good, I picked up a few niggles with the heat and the different sort of pitches, but I feel like my body is sort of getting used to it now.”
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