Nottingham Forest's Joe Worrall is attracting interested from Hull City, and he could be set to leave the City Ground, according to Football Insider.

The defender hasn't been part of first-team plans at Forest since making 35 appearances in the 2017/18 season, and spent last year at Rangers.

Despite two changes in manager at Forest since his loan departure, Worrall may still find himself struggling for a first-team role this season, and his possible availability has sparked interest from two Championship rivals.

The R's have strengthened their defensive options already this summer with the signing of Yoann Barbet on a free, but Worrall could provide some much-needed competition for the Frenchman and Toni Leistner.

Hull meanwhile have added Ryan Tafazolli from Peterborough, and Jordy de Wijs was a standout performer last season, so it will be interesting to see how Grant McCann utilises the 22-year-old if he does sign.

 

De Wijs was excellent for The Tigers in part because of his rate of clearances - the Dutchman averaged 7.8 per match last season, and if Worrall was to accompany him they could form one of the most dominant defensive partnerships in the division.

The Forest man averaged 3.63, which seems little in comparison to De Wijs, but he was playing in a Rangers side which controlled possession and rarely came under threat in most of their matches last season, so his return is very respectable.

To further evidence Worrall's dominant style, one just has to take a look at how often he won aerial duels on average last season. Six per game shows he doesn't allow strikers to get the better of him and that reliability would prove valuable to whichever club he plays for this season.

Worrall is much more than a no-nonsense defender, however, and given the all-round nature of his game it is surprising that it looks like he won't get a chance to impress under Lamouchi.

He looked comfortable performing for a big club in Rangers last season, and his composure on the ball made him stand-out.

The defender averaged a pass success rate of 88% and made on average six passes into the final third, which shows that not only is he composed on the ball, but he is not afraid to be adventurous, and will try and create opportunities for his teammates.

He is also good on the ground without the ball, and that is a key aspect of defending in the Championship. Many opponents he will face will attempt to split the defence with through balls to the striker, and Worrall will have to step in to cut out any danger.

His average of 4.5 interceptions per game suggests he could do that, but it is a worry that he made on average just 0.37 blocks per match last season. That is one area of his game that will require improvement if he is to break into the Forest starting line-up or become a top Championship defender.