No fewer than three Nottingham Forest players have been named in the Easter Monday Team of the Week.
The Reds tore through play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough at the City Ground, winning 3-0 – a scoreline which flattered hapless Boro who had goalkeeper Darren Randolph to thank for keeping the scoreline mildly respectable.
In just his second start under Martin O’Neill, record signing Joao Carvalho turned out to be Boro’s chief tormentor and was rewarded with a place in the Championship’s best side put together by WhoScored.com.
There were also places for Joe Lolley, who netted his tenth and eleventh goals of the season and Alexander Milosevic, who’s powerful volley made it 2-0, notching up his first goal in English football and first anywhere since 2014.
It was arguably Forest’s best performance of the season, which dented Boro’s hopes of securing a place in the play-offs, and went some way to relieving some of the pressure on manager Martin O’Neill after four straight defeats ended their own hopes of finishing in the top six.
Milosevic was named in the heart of the back four alongside Bristol City’s Adam Webster, with Derby’s Scott Malone at left-back Tom Edwards of Stoke on the right.
Carvalho and Lolley occupied the two central midfield spots, with Derby's Harry Wilson and Brentford’s Sergi Canos deployed wide after playing key roles in wins over QPR and Leeds respectively.
‘What a time to be alive’ – Nottingham Forest hero was back with a bang against Middlesbrough
Up front, ex-Red David McGoldrick was given the nod for his brace in Sheffield United’s 3-0 win at Hull which put them on the verge of the Premier League, alongside Birmingham’s Lukas Jutkiewicz for his part in a 3-1 win at League One-bound Rotherham.
