Former Nottingham Forest striker Garry Birtles believes a tweak to the team's tactics could help get more out of new signing Chris Wood.
The target man was brought in on loan from Newcastle United following an injury to Taiwo Awoniyi. But he has failed to impress in his two appearances for the club so far, against Bournemouth and Leeds United.
Birtles thinks that the Reds' attack looks better in general than it did earlier in the season. But he also thinks the team would be better served with more direct ball on top of him.
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"As any striker will tell you, you're beholden to supply," the two-time European Cup winner told the Garibaldi Red Podcast. "We all know what his strengths are and what supply he needs.
"One thing I found strange was, I would like to see, when the goalkeeper kicks it long why not have Brennan (Johnson) play off Wood, instead of aiming for (Serge) Aurier.
"We know what Brennan offers but in the air isn't one of his great strengths. That baffles me a bit, but it can be tweaked. It's difficult coming in for him as he has with the way we play and the way we set up.
"In the first part of the season we had (Jesse) Lingard, (Morgan) Gibbs-White and Brennan. That's changed and it's looking better for it. He's probably used to different service, but he'll give you an outlet and be good in the dressing room. He's only played two games. It's early days.
"The only thing I would change is the kicks from the goalkeeper into wide positions. You want him to attack it and Brennan gambling off him. He's 6ft 3in I believe so switch it round a little bit. Going towards the end of the season he can be a very important commodity for us."
Birtles suggests that Steve Cooper could start Sam Surridge up front against Fulham this Saturday (kickoff 3pm) instead after he impressed off the bench in Forest's 1-0 win over Leeds.
"Sam is mobile. He'll win you things in the air and back into defenders. Defenders hate that," he said.
"A couple of times late on he held it up well but then gave it away. When he came on he made it difficult for defenders. He made it difficult for them to play out because he's mobile and he'll close things down. Everyone is playing a vital part for me.
"Anything that is working I'd stick with. When you get 1-0s, there's no finer feeling than a win with a clean sheet. We all love to score four and five, but when you play a team around you, that's important. We still have Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United to come at home, but the important games are Everton, West Ham and games like that."
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