Liam Bridcutt excelled against Cardiff even though his side lost.

Forest lost 2-1 away to the Bluebirds in a game that meant a lot more for the home side because they needed to maintain the gap on Fulham who are one point behind them, although they have played a game more.

In contrast, Forest are in the bottom half of the table, but are safe from relegation, so focusing on next season is the priority.

Bridcutt has seen his opportunities limited since Aitor Karanka joined the club with four appearances that are shared evenly between now and the start of Karanka's tenure at the club.

He was brought on against Ipswich, though, and obviously showed enough to be given a start against Cardiff. The faith shown by his manager was rewarded with a goal and a strong performance from Bridcutt.

The statistics in the graphic above show that he was important defensively as well because he made two clearances which is needed against a side so adept at crossing and set pieces like Cardiff are, although they conceded both goals from set pieces.

His pass success percentage isn't the best, but Forest were mainly on the counter-attack, so risks needed to be made with possession. However, even though he scored, he did miss an even bigger opportunity earlier in the game due to a bad touch, which would have broke the deadlock. Altogether he showed enough to be given more opportunities by Karanka.