Former Nottingham Forest player Kenny Burns has urged Sabri Lamouchi to keep Lewis Grabban in his starting line-up over the festive period, rather than looking to rotate him with Rafa Mir.

Lamouchi made the surprising decision to bring in Mir ahead of Grabban for Reds' 2-2 draw with Millwall on Friday, but that looked like it could prove costly when Forest produced a lacklustre first half performance which saw them trail at the break at the Den, with Mir unable to really hold the ball up and link up with his team-mates.

However, Lamouchi managed to change the game by introducing Grabban onto the field on 62 minutes for Mir, and the 31-year-old showed his predatory instincts immediately pulling away from his marker and tapping home from close range less than a minute after coming on, before grabbing a second after showing his intelligent movement to find space to turn home Sammy Ameobi's cross.

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Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live Burns suggested that Lamouchi needs to keep Grabban in the side over the next few weeks, rather than risking missing out on some vital points by rotating him with Mir, saying: "Look at what happened before, he changed it at Wigan and lost but then had to change it back against Hull a few days later, and once again, the Reds were beaten.

"I feel for him in the sense that if he tries to rest Grabban, he doesn’t have the quality to come in and replace him. So just play him.

"Grabban may be 31, but he’s fit and scoring goals. Take advantage of it while you can - its not like there was a game straight after.

"Playing at The Den gave Forest an extra day to prepare for Tuesday night, and therefore an extra day to recover.

"He’s your only striker capable of finding the net with regularity, so I accept you want to be careful with him, not to the detriment of losing games and dropping points, though."

The Verdict

Burns is right to highlight just how crucial Grabban is to the Lamouchi's side and their hopes of picking up points on a consistent basis, with his two goals from the bench at Millwall taking his tally up to ten goals in the Championship so far this campaign.

Without Grabban's presence up front Forest looked devoid of any real goal threat during the first hour at the Den, with Mir really struggling to get himself into the game and provide a spark for the Reds, and that is not the first time that has happened with Lamouchi resting Grabban against Wigan Athletic which saw his side suffer a 1-0 defeat.

Given Grabban is Forest's main outlet for goals it is understandable that Lamouchi will be wanting to rotate him at times to keep him fresh, but if that means that the Reds miss out on vital points then he will need to ask himself whether starting the 31-year-old consistently is worth the risk.