Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews believes that Nottingham Forest missed the aggression of Samba Sow in the midfield following Friday night's 3-0 defeat to Millwall at the City Ground.
Forest were left stunned by a first half riot by their visitors, who scored three times in the space of 13 minutes thanks to a hat-trick from striker Matt Smith.
The Lions were allowed to dictate the game and run through Forest's midfield as though it wasn't there, as the first two goals both came from crosses from the left hand side, after Millwall had surged through the centre of the pitch.
Sabri Lamouchi, the Forest manager, opted to go with a defensive midfield two of Ben Watson and Alfa Semedo, with Sow still nursing a knee injury. And the 30-year-old's absence was more than noticeable, according to Andrews.
When asked by Sky Sports if Sow's absence for Forest was telling, Andrews said: "Yes. There have been nine losses this season, eight of which have been without him. When you look at that it is fairly evident.
"I like his style regardless of that stat. I just think he compliments Ben Watson very, very well.
"He is industrious, he is combative and he covers the distance very well. It was glaringly obvious that there was huge voids in that midfield.
"Ben Watson cannot do it all, so that is clearly an issue."
Sow has missed Forest's last four matches, with his last appearance coming in the 2-2 draw with West Brom back in mid-February.
