Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White backed for England recall after hat-trick | OneFootball

Vitor Pereira feels Morgan Gibbs-White deserves an England recall after his 15-minute hat-trick fired Nottingham Forest closer to Premier League safety in a 4-1 win over Burnley.

Gibbs-White has so often been the hero for Forest since their return to the top flight and once again delivered when his side needed it the most, bagging a first career treble to give them the three points after Zian Flemming had put the Clarets ahead.

The 26-year-old has been left out of the last two England squads and his World Cup dream appears to be over, but Pereira thinks Thomas Tuchel should reconsider.

“He deserves that. This is just my opinion, but if I can give that, I think he deserves it, because he has the quality, he has the qualities of a leader,” said the Portuguese, who saw Igor Jesus close out the victory with a fourth goal late on as Forest moved five points clear of 18th-placed Tottenham.

“When things are not happening in the way that you want, when the team is struggling in the game, a lot of players could prefer to hide themselves, they do not want the ball.

“But Morgan wants the ball, he wants the responsibility, he wants to score goals, he wants to assist.

“When I told him that, when we are attacking, I wanted him to play in the pocket but, when we defend, he must defend on the side, it was not a problem for him.

“He understands the game. He has the spirit.”

Forest desperately needed the golden 15 minutes from Gibbs-White as their midweek Europa League exploits looked to have caught up with them in a turgid first hour.

Flemming had worsened their relegation fears when he fired Burnley in front on the stroke of half-time, but Gibbs-White blew them away after the break.

His first came in the 63rd minute, coolly slotting home, before he clinically finished Omari Hutchinson’s cross and then claimed the match ball with a towering header.

Jesus confirmed the three points when he raced clear at the death.

Defeat for Burnley put them on the brink of relegation and their fate could be sealed when they visit Manchester City on Wednesday, depending on how West Ham fare at Crystal Palace on Monday night.

Boss Scott Parker, who said it was inconceivable his side could have lost so heavily from their position of strength, accepts their drop to the Championship is “inevitable”.

“The inevitable is there now, let’s be honest,” he said. “It’s a miracle in terms of what we need to do, what we need to try and be really.

“So there are five games left, five Premier League games for these players, individually.

“That’s probably the route we go down in terms of what we need to be as individuals.

“Of course we keep fighting, for sure, and we keep giving absolutely everything.”