Glenn Murray has made a fantastic start to life as a Nottingham Forest player - but it could have been a lot different if a League One manager had his way during the January transfer window.

The veteran striker endured a torrid time on loan at Watford for the first half of the season, having not kicked a ball for the Hornets since the end of October.

But his former manager Chris Hughton swooped on deadline day to bring him to the City Ground for the rest of the season, and he handed Murray his first start away at Wycombe yesterday in the absence of Lewis Grabban.

Murray repaid the faith with two goals, proving exactly why Hughton decided to add him to Forest's front-line as they bid to climb away from the relegation zone.

Forest did seem like the logical landing place for Murray in the transfer window, but Plymouth Argyle boss Ryan Lowe has revealed he tried to hijack the move in what would have been a real coup for the League One club.

“You better start, Glenn, because I came in for you late on and you told me to go do one," Lowe told Radio Five Live where Murray was also live on-air.

“Do you know what my method was? I thought, right, he’d been locked up away at Watford, so I thought I’d give a ring.

“I said, ‘what’s happening with Glenn?’. He (Murray's agent) went, ‘ah’ and then he started talking about something which I can’t speak about.

“I didn’t know where you were at, what you were doing, so don’t take it the wrong way, whether it’s disrespect or not - I thought, ‘he might do me for 12 weeks, get him firing; get 10 or 15 goals before the end of the season and then he can get an even better move in the Championship next year’."

Murray did in-fact say it may have been an option if the Forest move hadn't come about, but he's probably made a good choice re-aligning with Hughton.

The Verdict

It was a shrewd move indeed for Hughton to get Murray up to Forest, but what could have been if it didn't transpire and the evergreen forward had gone to Argyle?

It's hard to think of Murray ever dropping down into the third tier even at the age of 37 - it was only a couple of seasons ago that he was hitting double figures in the Premier League for Brighton - but Plymouth fans may now be dreaming of a partnership of him and Luke Jephcott.

The move didn't happen though and it likely never will, and with Murray getting off to a quick start on the goalscoring front at the Tricky Trees, he may have found himself a permanent home for the final few years of his career.