Nottingham Forest manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that fans have probably seen the last of on-loan striker Leo Bonatini.

The Brazilian striker was expected to be one of the missing pieces to the Reds' jigsaw when he signed for the club back in January after falling out of favour at Wolves, but he has struggled for game time under Martin O'Neill despite a positive start to life at the City Ground.

And now O'Neill has commented on the striker's absence, and admitted that Forest have probably seen the last of the big forward.

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"He is not our player, so I am not so sure I should be making any serious comment about it,”  O’Neill told the Nottingham Post.

“It has been tough for him, since he has come here.”

O'Neill stopped short of commenting on whether Bonatini had a direct injury affecting his time at the club, simply commenting that 'it's been tough' for Bonatini when pressed further.

The Forest manager along with assistant Roy Keane have seen their Reds team struggle of late, and despite a 3-0 win last weekend which coincided with the return of Joao Carvalho to the starting XI, they have fallen well short of the top six in the Championship.

The Verdict

This is a shame this for Bonatini, but there has to be something wrong either professionally or personally.

He's too good a player at this level to have not had any sort of impact with the club, and it will be interesting to here Bonatini's take on things come the end of the season.