Steve Cooper insists he will not rush Braian Ojeda into action as he awaits to make his first appearance for Nottingham Forest.

Ojeda signed for Forest on deadline day, with the Paraguay international arriving from his native side Olimpia.

Ojeda’s arrival was an exciting one for Forest fans to get their teeth into, with the young midfielder highly regarded over in South America.

Having represented his country on international duty before signing for the Reds, Ojeda, and fellow new signing Mohamed Drager, had to both self isolate which stunted their development.

Ojeda is still playing catch up regarding his fitness, and his only game time has come in the Under-23s so far.

But speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Cooper insisted that he will not rush Ojeda into action and that he is training “really well”.

He said: “Braian is training really well. I’m really happy with him. I spoke to him at length the other day just to tell him that, to say that we’ve been really impressed with how he’s settled in.

“I’m not going to rush Braian.

“As much as everyone wants to see him, and so do I, he’s come from a different continent, he’s learning the language, he’s having to settle in, and he’s trying to take on board what we do on a day to day basis.

“He’s here for the long-term. I’m sure he’ll feature sooner rather than later, but how long that is, we won’t be rushing into.”

The Verdict

This is absolutely the right stance for Cooper to take.

He will not want to rush Ojeda by any means, especially if he isn’t fully settled or fully fit.

When he’s ready, he will play and will hope to make an impact.