New Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton has expressed that he hopes Gary Brazil remains with the club after his “tremendous work in the academy,” reports BBC Sport.

Warburton replaced Brazil as the manager of the Forest first-team on Tuesday, as fears the club could face relegation from the Sky Bet Championship began to grow.

The pair met on Thursday, leaving Warburton hopeful Brazil would remain academy director and Jack Lester could carry on as academy manager, following their spell with the first-team, he told the BBC: “They have done tremendous work in the academy.

“Academies exist to get players into the first-team squad and you look at the first-team squad and they have done a very good job. There is no doubt about that.

"They stepped into a difficult role and I am full of respect for the work they did.”

Warburton takes over a Forest side who are in a relegation battle, currently 20^th in the Championship table and just two points above the bottom three, with nine fixtures of the season remaining.

Derby County visit the City Ground tomorrow, where Warburton will face a baptism of fire as Forest’s new boss, with an East Midlands Derby.

Forest fans… Are you hopeful Brazil and Lester return to the academy? Let us know in the comments!