Preston North End defender Joe Rafferty believes Nuno Da Costa was the best winger he faced during the Championship season.
Da Costa, a January arrival at Nottingham Forest from French side Strasbourg, made 10 appearances in the second half of the season, impressing at times as Sabri Lamouchi’s men ultimately fell short of securing a place in the play-offs on the final day.
Rafferty faced up to Da Costa when the two sides met at Deepdale earlier this month, battling out a 1-1 draw which proved to be a costly result for both clubs in their respective bids to secure a top six berth, and though the Cape Verde international failed to end on the winning side, the 26-year-old full-back was impressed with what he saw
“The best one I've faced was probably the lad at Nottingham Forest, Da Costa," Rafferty told Lancs Live.
"I thought he was quite sharp."
Prior to the Reds' trip to Preston, crucially, they were beaten 1-0 at home by Fulham with Da Costa coming on at half-time to replace Joe Lolley, and the Liverpool-born man admits he got his first glimpse of the Forest winger then and was unsure at what to expect when he faced up to him that weekend.
"Funnily enough, they were on TV midweek so I watched their game before ours as I didn't really know who he was or anything really," he said.
"He hadn't played much for them so I had a little watch and thought 'oh he'll be alright and just like most wingers in the Championship'.
"But I came up against him and there were spells where I thought 'bloody hell, he's quite good'.
"So yeah, he was probably one of the best, but to be honest you've just got to work out your opponent and use your brain half the time.
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"Because some people can be physically stronger, or faster than you, but you just need to work out your strengths and their weaknesses."
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