Former Nottingham Forest striker Jason Cummings has recalled how he was snubbed by Aitor Karanka during his time at the City Ground.
Cummings spent two years on the banks of the Trent but struggled to make an impression in that time and was sold to Shrewsbury Town for an undisclosed fee last summer.
He says it all went downhill for him with the Reds when Aitor Karanka was appointed manager.
The Scot had been signed by Mark Warburton in the summer of 2017, only for the ex-Rangers boss to be axed that December.
Karanka then took over, with Cummings revealing he knew his chances at the club looked bleak when the Spaniard forgot about him during a training session.
“The thing that killed me was Warbs getting sacked after a few months,” Capital City Press say he told former Hibs teammate Marvin Bartley in an interview streamed on Instagram.
“He was the man who signed me and I could see myself progressing under him and (assistant) Davie Weir. They were class.
“Then the new manager, Karanka, comes in.
“He came in and he was putting all the boys into a shape for training, calls everyone’s name out and then says, ‘right, let’s go’. But he’s forgotten about me!
“I was standing in the sidelines like, ‘am I playing here or what?’.
“The next day he phoned my agent and said I wasn’t his type of player and he wanted a bigger striker. I still haven’t spoken to him since.”
Cummings went on to have loan spells at Rangers, Peterborough United and Luton Town before his Forest career was brought to an end.
The 24-year-old says his time at Rangers was particularly frustrating, as there was the option to make his move permanent at the end of that campaign.
He scored six goals in 18 appearances, but incoming boss Steven Gerrard was targeting his own players.
“I started to see the other side of football,” Cummings said. “It was easy playing every week at Hibs, scoring goals. Then, all of a sudden I was on the bench or not in squads.
“There was part of me thinking, ‘is this what it’s all about?’.
“I do wish I had more of a chance at Rangers.
“It was up to Gerrard in the end and I went out to Dubai to speak to him. He was brand new and told me he was going to bring in his own players.
“He ended up signing some geezer called Jermain Defoe so that was fair enough!”
