Nottingham Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi has suggested that Manchester City loanee Arijanet Muric is remaining professional despite his lack of game time, but that he will find it difficult to earn a place ahead of Brice Samba in goal.

Muric arrived at the City Ground in the summer on a season-long loan from Premier League champions Manchester City, and the 21-year-old started the campaign as Nottingham Forest's number one keeper, but a string of individual errors during the first few matches of the season saw him lose his place to fellow summer signing Samba.

The keeper has since been forced to play the role of back up keeper, with him playing in the 5-0 defeat at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, and the impressive form of Samba suggests that unless he gets injured Muric will struggle to get back into the side on a regular basis for the rest of the campaign.

The Michael Dawson quiz – How much do you know about the Nottingham Forest man?

Speaking to the media ahead of Nottingham Forest's trip to Bristol City on Saturday, Lamouchi suggested that Muric is remaining professional in training, but that he will find it challenging to get in the side ahead of Samba, saying: "I am just focused on the situation now, and the situation now must stay like this because I think we have found the right way.

"But we know it is so fragile, so you never know. But he is doing his job. He is very positive in training sessions and is a nice guy.

"He is a young goalkeeper, just 21-years-old. He played two games with his national team and has come back and trained with us. He is a professional."

The Verdict

Muric's loan spell at Nottingham Forest has not turned out the way that he, or his parent club Manchester City, would have been wanting, with the 21-year-old looking a little fragile during the first few weeks of the season and lacking in confidence, meaning Lamouchi eventually dropped him for Samba.

The form of Samba makes it very unlikely that Muric will get any regular game time during the rest of the season, and it will be interesting to see whether Manchester City decide to recall him to the Etihad in the January transfer window.

Muric, though, has at least enjoyed some playing time for Kosovo in the international break, and he has shown he has the potential to develop into a quality keeper over the next few years, but with Samba performing so well he might have to go elsewhere in January to get regular minutes.