Out-of-contract Jesse Lingard has put his limited impact at Nottingham Forest down to an injury-hit season.
The attacker signed for the Reds amid much hype and expectation last summer, but he struggled to deliver on the pitch and found himself down the pecking order in the second half of the campaign. Having penned a one-year deal, he is among the group of players to be released by the club when their contracts officially expire at the end of this month.
Lingard made just 20 appearances for Steve Cooper’s side and did not feature at all in their final seven games. The two goals he scored both came in the Carabao Cup.
Nevertheless, the 30-year-old remained a key presence in the dressing room and a positive influence on the squad throughout. And he takes pride in being part of a team which defied both the odds and the pundits to secure Premier League survival with a game to spare.
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“Sometimes moves are not for the best. Most of last season I was injured. I had tendonitis in my knees and my Achilles,” he told Sky Sports.
“It was difficult to kind of get a rhythm and play regular football, which is what I went out and searched for. Injuries can halt that progress, but it didn’t stop me being part of the squad.
“It was an amazing group of lads, amazing fans, amazing staff, a great experience. To stay up was our main aim, and we did that as a collective.
“I still wanted to work hard and get in the team, but sometimes injuries can halt that progress. But I’m not the guy to complain about stuff like that.
“We do everything as a team. There was a great team spirit there. We ticked all our boxes to stay up. We did that together as a team.”
