It was good to see Arvin Appiah get a few minutes for Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
It wasn’t the easiest time for him to come on, losing to Rotherham United, but he will still have benefited from getting some minutes under his belt.
We’ve not seen much of him for the first-team, but he’s someone they rate very highly at the City Ground.
Criticism of Nottingham Forest boss Martin O'Neill 'isn't right and it isn't fair'
If the manager, Martin O’Neill, thinks he’s good enough to play - whether that be for five minutes, 10 minutes or 90 minutes - then he must think something of him.
Martin will have watched him in training and for the Under-23s, but he’ll want to see how Appiah handles the Championship - because there is a big difference.
But you can’t expect players like Appiah to suddenly come in and dominate games. You’ve got to blood them in gradually.
Give them a few minutes or the odd game, then rest them for a bit. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing Appiah’s only made three appearances this season.
It’s up to Martin when he thinks he’s ready to play.
But he can still have a very bright future for us - it all depends on whether he shows the right attitude. You’ve got to keep proving yourself; keep learning. That's going to be key for Appiah now; that's the next challenge.
You can’t suddenly think you’ve made it just because you’ve pulled on the shirt.
These are the players we need to be looking at, though.
The younger players, like Appiah, like Matty Cash, like Joe Worrall - when he comes back from being on loan - they can be our future.
We’ve got to make the most of our Academy.
