Xande Silva is yet to make an appearance for Nottingham Forest following his summer move from West Ham United.

Forest are desperate for some inspiration in the side and to give more insight on what the 24-year-old could offer, Silva's former coach at Sporting Lisbon, Tiago Capaz, spoke to NottinghamshireLive.

He said: "He was able to deliver great speed and would do things (on the pitch) very suddenly and with efficacy, this gave him a good advantage.

"We’re talking about Sporting’s academy that always had quality talents come through, but he still stood out with those individual characteristics. In that group, he always played up front with great quality, he played either as a winger or as a forward and this was his start as an academy player with me."

Silva is still yet to catch fire in senior football and has produced his best numbers to date playing for the West Ham U23s, with 10 goals and two assists in just 12 outings.

Even after the poor start there is still a lot of competition for places at the City Ground, with Joe Lolley, Alex Mighten, Philip Zinckernagel and Brennan Johnson all vying for a spot out wide.

With eight goals and one assist in 13 matches playing as a central striker according to Transfermarkt, Silva may offer more to the squad through the middle, providing an alternative option to Lyle Taylor and Lewis Grabban.

The Verdict

Sporting has an outstanding youth setup and for Silva to come through it with such glowing references says a lot.

Many players struggle with the step up to senior football and take a little longer to adjust than others, it is a very individual journey.

Premier League 2 does not replicate men's football but it is of a high standard, with the likes of Daniel Ballard, Ellis Simms and Callum Doyle making their mark on the Football League coming from playing a lot of Premier League 2 in the last year.

Hopefully, for Forest's sake, Silva can follow in their footsteps and dig Chris Hughton's men out of trouble in the coming months.