There was a time at Nottingham Forest when it felt normal to see Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Nigel Clough, Neil Webb, Steve Hodge and others starting out. England duty.

Having a half-empty dressing room during international breaks was as familiar as the club’s regular visits to Wembley to play in cup finals. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. That’s what happened at Forest.

This situation has changed in the last thirty years.

Dean Henderson and Jesse Lingard, who have their own history with England, were in the Forest squad that managed to survive the first season of the season. Premier League Even if they didn’t add to their cap collection while at the club, they were under Steve Cooper’s management in 2022-23.

Prior to this, in the Championship, Michael Dawson returned to Forest for a second time after making four England appearances throughout his career. Tottenham Hotspurand they signed a contract with the midfielder Jack Colbackwho received a call from England Newcastle United The player will have to withdraw from this squad due to injury. Going back even further, England forwards Andy Cole and Ian Wright enjoyed short, memorable seasons with Forest deep into the autumn of their careers.

Forest have had their share of international players since returning to the Premier League, from Argentina to New Zealand; For this reason, the dressing rooms are usually pretty empty during national team periods, but it’s been a long time since one of their teams was out of the squad. He was able to express serious aspirations to represent England regularly.

When Morgan Gibbs-White He entered the game in the 76th minute of the 2-0 win in September. Eire In Dublin, he became the first Forest player to play for the England senior team since Pearce in 1997. This was a turning point. He hopes to be fit enough to earn a recall for November’s matches next week. Greece and the Irishman again, trying to recover from an ankle injury.

Forest’s Pearce playing for England against Italy in February 1997 (Adam Butler – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

But there may be more like him on the horizon.

We’re not yet at the stage where a group of Forest players could realistically be called up for England duty at the same time, but there are at least four or five Englishmen in Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad who have realistic ambitions of representing their side. country at first team level in the future.

And that alone is a sign of evolution and progress within the ranks at the City Ground.

It was Cafu (not him) on the bench when Forest returned to the Premier League against Newcastle United on the opening weekend of the 2022-23 season. Alex Mighten, Loic Mbe Soh19-year-old academy boy Oli Hammond and experienced striker Lyle Taylor.

While I have the utmost respect for these players, the dynamic has changed significantly in the intervening two years with the squad this season. Ryan Yates, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Elliot Anderson, James Ward-Prowse and Gibbs-White are hoping to attract the attention of both interim England head coach Lee Carsley and Thomas Tuchel, who will take up the role on a permanent basis in January.

Gibbs-White plays for England in September (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

“We’ve always had a lot of players on the international break. Normally we have around 12 players in different teams, which shows the quality of the squad,” head coach Nuno said at a press conference ahead of his visit. West Ham United on Saturday. “But it’s natural that these English players have this ambition now because this starts a new cycle for England (under Tuchel, on the road to the 2026 World Cup) and they are good players.

“It’s great to have players who want to play for their national team because it challenges them even more; It awakens the desire to be better. Because only the best will go to the national team. If you are involved, if you have that idea around you, it makes you believe more; It makes you work harder. “We are delighted to have a young group of English players with the desire to play for England.”

after representing Scotland In various age groups from under-16 to under-21, English-born, then-Newcastle midfielder Anderson (above left) was called up to the first team squad in August last year. He went out due to injury. This August, shortly after his transfer to Forest, he accepted selection for the England Under-21 team and went on to make four appearances at that level, making his England debut in last month’s 7-0 win over the Azerbaijan Under-21 team. He scored. .

There is a feeling at Forest that it will not be long before he receives his first England call-up, even if he is not included in the squad for the games against Greece in Athens on November 14 and Ireland at Wembley three days later.

Anderson’s performances this season have already convinced Forest, with the 21-year-old effectively costing them £15 million ($19.3 million at the current exchange rate). He filled the void created by Gibbs-White’s absence and produced outstanding performances in the number 10 role during the victories. Crystal Palace And City of Leicester. The second came despite recovering from the pain of a foot injury suffered last Friday; Which puts him in a bit of doubt for this weekend.

Forest invested £25 million (with a possible figure of £42 million) to sign Gibbs-White. Wolverhampton Travelers There also looks to be great value in the summer of 2022, with the attacking midfielder quickly becoming one of the most influential players on the team.

His relationship with Carsley, for whom he played as England won the Under-21 European Championship last year, may have been a factor in Gibbs-White’s inclusion in the senior squad, but there is no reason for that if he can maintain his influence at Forest. He shouldn’t miss another England opportunity.

Hudson-Odoi made three senior appearances for England in 2019. Chelsea The German could similarly benefit from his past relationship with Tuchel, having played for him in 2021 and 2022 when he was head coach of the West London club.

Hudson-Odoi plays for Forest this season (Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Tuchel has frequently used Hudson-Odoi as both a wing-back and winger and had enough confidence in him to include the now 23-year-old in his matchday squad when Chelsea were defeated. Manchester City 1-0 in the 2020-21 Champions League final.

Carsley was at the City Ground to watch Forest beat Palace 1-0 on 21 October. It will see former Forest goalkeeper Henderson make a bad mistake for the visitors but will also witness impressive performances from Anderson, Yates and Hudson-Odoi. He should have gone home with plenty of food for thought.

Ward-Prowse already has 11 England caps, but his first challenge in taking that to 12 will be to regain his place in the Forest side. The on-loan midfielder is not allowed to face his parent club this weekend and was an unused substitute at Leicester after receiving a one-match suspension for a red card against Chelsea. But Nuno liked what he saw from the set-piece specialist (who turns 30 today) in his first four Premier League games, saying: “He made a huge impact on the team straight away. He has settled in and we are very happy.”

If anyone had suggested a few years ago that Yates would push for British recognition, few would have believed them. But the 26-year-old midfielder’s continued progress and determination to improve has allowed him to prove his doubters wrong and retain his place at Forest even in an increasingly competitive environment.

Including spells on loan in his youth, Forest academy graduate Yates (top right) has played in English football’s top five leagues, so if he were to follow that up with a stint in England’s senior team there would be a certain symmetry to it all. .

“It’s every young boy’s dream to play for his country. I feel like I’m playing well, but I also feel like I can give more,” Yates said in a roundtable interview with reporters on Tuesday. “I have a lot more to come, I want to keep improving.

“But I never say never to anything. When I look back on my loan spells with Barrow, Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury (there was also Notts County)… Playing my third season in the Premier League with Forest makes you believe anything is possible.

“If the club brings in players with more Premier League experience than me, I ask myself: ‘Why do they have more experience?’, ‘Why have they been playing at this level for so long?’, ‘What can I learn from this?’ To improve myself?’ “I still have things to improve on. I’ve always been on this path. It feels like I keep telling you the same things, but nothing actually changes. I’ve become a better player every season and I don’t want to put a limit on where I can reach.”

Forest already use Yates as a poster boy in their academy setup, exemplifying what the club’s young players can achieve with the right attitude. If Wikipedia added the title England to its page, it would only reinforce this status. And theoretically there is room in the current England squad for a combative, destructive midfielder of his kind.

However, what is important for Nuno is protecting the rim. If their players play well, they will continue to be talked about and feature on the international stage and Forest should improve as a result.

“This is a fact. “National team coaches travel to see matches and if a team is doing well, it’s normally just because the players are doing well,” he said. Portugal They made the Euro 2008 squad at various age groups, at B team level and at the 1996 Olympics, but never won the senior cup.

“If the players are good, the team will be better, the club will grow. I know how much these players want this (the England opportunity) and I am very happy about that.”

(Top photos: Getty Images)