Nottingham Forest man won’t go easy on Sheffield Wednesday despite fierce Derby County rivalry
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The two-time European Cup winners, whose late rally in the Championship this season has seem them steer well clear of any lingering relegation concern, have the opportunity to stick a knife in the survival hopes of fierce rivals Derby County at Hillsborough.
Wednesday have two matches left this season and must better Derby’s result against Swansea to stay in with a chance of staying up – they make the trip to Pride Park on the last day.
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Hide AdSouth Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United, level on points with Wednesday with a game in hand, are also a big part of the conundrum.
But local boy Forest defender Joe Worrall, a former England youth international, says that despite any half-wishes from outside, there will be no temptation to go easy on the Owls at Hillsborough this weekend.
Indeed, the imposing centre-half made it clear he would rather Derby stayed in the division at the expense of Wednesday and Rotherham.
“I would be massively disappointed if there was no East Midlands' derby next season,” Worrall said.
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Hide Ad“It would be fantastic if they do go down, in one sense but I also want to play against Derby, I want to score against Derby, I want to beat Derby.
“If you are asking me if I want them to go down, no I do not.”
Worrall knows all about the perils of a late relegation dogfight, having featured in the Forest side that avoided relegation by virtue of goal difference at Ipswich Town’s POrtman Road back in 2017.
He said: “I am sure when they [Derby] were looking at us, when we beat Ipswich to stay up on the final day, they will have wanted the result to go the other way.
“We all support different football clubs.
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Hide Ad“Whoever stays up, they are going to have to do it on merit, because we sure did that season against Ipswich.
“The manager and players won’t be in holiday mode, even though we are mathematically safe - we will make sure of that. We will go to Hillsborough and try to win the game.”