Two-time European Cup Winner Kenny Burns knows a bit about Nottingham Forest and has played with enough strikers to recognise good and bad attributes in them.

The former teammate of Martin O'Neill is a staunch Forest fan and he's been giving his verdict on the striker issues facing the current incumbent of the manager's role at the City Ground.

66-year-old O'Neill has Lewis Grabban in contention for a place, he's the leading scorer for Forest this season but has been experiencing a dry spell.

Daryl Murphy is well-known to the manager from his Eire days and has remained very much a key player despite the summer upheaval.

Leo Bonatini joined up in the transfer window to add options, but Burns believes that the 35-year-old Murphy is the best option in a one-man strike force.

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"If Nottingham Forest had a game tomorrow then Daryl Murphy would be my striker," he wrote on Nottinghamshire Live. "I say that even if Lewis Grabban were fully fit."

"Murphy wins his headers and brings others into the game. Grabban is quicker and he's a natural goalscorer, but Forest looked a better team against Derby with Murphy upfront."

He went on to discuss the virtues of playing both together in a two-man attack, something O'Neill hasn't seemed to favour.

"If you could play both of them together then I wouldn't mind that either, but Martin O'Neill is happy playing one striker."

Forest have lost just once in their last six matches and face a trip to Stoke this weekend, before back to back home matches against Hull City and Aston Villa.

The Verdict

I like the thought of two up top if I'm honest.

Grabban running off Murphy would be an ideal partnership, but modern football dictates that you often play without a striker.

It's a shame, the partnerships of old are a dying aspect of the game. Charlton proved with Taylor and Grant that it can work, but increasingly the focus is on loading the midfield and letting one man do the work up top.