Ever since joining Nottingham Forest from Bolton Wanderers in 2017, it's not been at all an easy ride for Zach Clough who was expected to take his game to another level.
The former Trotters youngster arrived at the City Ground as a highly-rated forward - but hasn't managed to break through for Sabri Lamouchi's Reds. Now twenty-five, Clough has barely appeared in thirty games for Forest since joining the club.
The managerial merry-go round in Nottingham hasn't helped Clough at all either - but the player now finds himself with his rather rapid ascent at a complete standstill, and one of the coaches who 'made' him now believes he's the perfect man to get Clough fit and firing.
David Lee spoke to the Burnden Aces' Bolton Wanderers podcast 'Walking Down the Manny Road' about Clough's development
"He was fantastic at Bolton but when he went to Nottingham Forest, the manager that brought him in left," said Lee to WDTMR.
"So then Zach had to try and prove himself to another manager and if that manager hasn't brought Clough in, then he may not be his type of player.
"It doesn't make Zach a bad player by going to Nottingham Forest. Sometimes a manager doesn't quite fancy him or he doesn't fit into the system and if you're not careful you can fall away out of football."
However, Clough's lack of playing time isn't going to help him find success outside of Forest - with his value tanking from a £3 million peak. It's a safe bet to say that the Reds won't be recouping that.
This now presents Clough with a transfer dilemma, because to go forwards he has to face taking a 'backward' step.
Regardless, Lee believes he can bring Clough back to the top, whatever the end result of any transfer decision that is taken.
"Unfortunately, Zach, at the moment, hasn't been playing any football. So you lose your confidence, your passion, desire and enthusiasm. While he's been at Forest, the value of the player will have gone down because he's not played football.
"He's gone somewhere and probably needed someone like myself who has worked with him and knows how he ticks to get him working again.
"He needed someone who will believe in him and put him on the football pitch at Nottingham Forest and he could have been a revelation and a hit."
You can listen to the full podcast here.
