Striker Lyle Taylor has been backed to bounce back from a “very up and down” season for Nottingham Forest.
Reds boss Chris Hughton has challenged the front man to play a greater role next term as the team look to challenge for the top six.
Taylor has largely had to settle for a substitutes’ role in his first year at the City Ground, with 21 of his 36 appearances coming from off the bench.
Since the arrival of Glenn Murray in January, he has dropped to third in the pecking order up front, behind the former Brighton man and Lewis Grabban.
It has led to a few rumours Taylor could head elsewhere in the summer.
The 31-year-old is, though, under contract until 2023 - and in a below-par campaign where Forest have struggled for goals, he is currently their top league scorer.
“At this moment, we’ve got three number nines. It’s a personal choice of who I play, who I start or who I bring in,” Hughton told NottinghamshireLive.
“A fair assessment of Lyle’s season would probably be that it’s been very up and down.
“Probably in a period of time where there have been improvements in his game and he’s got to a level, I’ve got other choices as well.
“That becomes a decision making process.
“But this is a player who is contracted here. He is in the first year of his contract.
“There have been so many stories of individuals who have been in a similar position, where the first season didn’t go as well as they would have liked, for whatever reason - but then that changes. The second season does or the third season does.
“That’s always your thinking. Not only with Lyle, but with any player.”
