Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles has called for Gustavo Scarpa to be brought back into the squad.
Forest are in an intense relegation battle after going five games without a win, leaving them two points above bottom three with five points separating 12th and 20th place in the Premier League.
Scarpa has not started since the defeat to Fulham last month and has missed out on the last two match day squads after an initial bright start at the club following his winter move from Palmeiras. Manager Steve Cooper has not confirmed the reason for his absence.
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"He's the one player you look at and think he can make something happen with his great range of passing and vision," Birtles said on the latest Garibaldi Red podcast. "Sometimes bringing him on for the last 15 or 20 minutes might be what we need at some point."
Fellow guest, BT Sport commentator Darren Fletcher, admitted he was surprised Scarpa has been left out with Forest looking severely limited in midfield and attack of late.
"I'm surprised he's not involved if Jesse Lingard is. He looks like he can make something happen. He'll have a shot and he's got confidence in himself," he said.
"We only see the 90 minutes as fans. Maybe the manager sees something in training that he doesn't like so I always put that caveat in. Forest do look like they need as many match winners as possible so the fact he isn't involved at all surprises me a bit."
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