Ever since Aitor Karanka took over at Nottingham Forest, Joe Worrall fell down the pecking order, and as a result, the defender was sent on loan in the summer to Rangers. However, given the latest injury crisis that the Tricky Trees are facing, the Spanish manager recently gave an indication (The Scottish Sun) that he might be thinking about recalling the English defender in January.
Michael Dawson recently injured his hamstring against Ipswich, and it is understood that Forest currently have just two fit centre-backs in the form of Michael Hefele and Jack Robinson. Dawson could now be out for months, and this definitely does not bode well for the Gers.
Karanka recently talked about the injury problem and Worrall’s situation and said (The Scottish Sun),”I do not know if we can recall Joe. I need to check what the terms of the contract are. I do not know how serious it is. It might be a hamstring problem, but we do not know how bad it is. If it is serious and if he is out for more than a week or two, it will be a problem.”
It remains to be seen whether the defender has any clause which would allow Forest to call him back. If something like that happens, then it would be a massive worry for Gerrard who has often prefered the young English defender in the big Europa League games so far.
Worrall has put in some inconsistent performances, but more often than not he has come up with the goods. It’s clear that Steven Gerrard rates him highly as he replaced Nikola Katic with the Englishman in the starting lineup even though Katic had formed a strong partnership with Connor Goldson.
Losing out on the 21-year-old defender might put pressure on the club to sign another centre-back in January as that would leave the Bears with three alternatives in the form of Gareth McAuley, Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic. With other areas to look after in the winter transfer period (probably a striker and a playmaker), a new headache is undoubtedly not what Gerrard would want.
The backline has looked settled even though the manager has often rotated his centre-backs and looking for a new signing in January could cost the club millions which instead they would rather spend on an attacking player.
Worrall has also often gone on to claim that his heart lies with the Forest and we believe he might jump on the opportunity of going back to the City Ground. Therefore Gerrard might have a new problem to solve in the January window if Karanka goes on to recall his defender. All in all, a bad situation for Rangers to be in currently.
