Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Eintracht Frankfurt: Brennan Johnson returns, Gibbs-White frustration

Latest Nottingham Forest news from NottinghamshireLive as Steve Cooper’s side end pre-season with a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt

Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt in their final pre-season friendly of the summer.

The match began with a fantastic save from young Reds goalkeeper George Shelvey in the first five minutes. The 22-year-old did really well to save a low shot down to his left.

And the opening 45 minutes lacked any other clear goalscoring opportunities as both teams appeared to go through the motions, although the hosts opened up a couple of dangerous moments on occasion without testing Shelvey again.

The Reds struggled to keep the ball as was a theme for much of Forest’s away matches last season as a dire goalless first half ended.

The second half began with an error at the back from Forest which saw two Frankfurt players through on goal. The ball was squared to Muani but Shelvey came up with another big save from point-blank range.

Shelvey was superb but he almost made a terrible error after a Frankfurt ball in the box saw Boly and the goalkeeper go for it but neither dealt with it properly as the ball narrowly looped away from goal.

Forest were then fortunate again as Frankfurt hit both posts after some excellent work in the box. Shelvey was beaten and it looked harder to miss.

Forest rallied late on as Aurier whipped an excellent ball in from out wide but striker Chris Wood miss-timed his header. The Reds then almost snatched it late on as a free-kick was whipped in as McKenna powerd the ball past Trapp but the referee disallowed it for a foul.

Steve Cooper’s team will next be in action in their Premier League opener against Arsenal on Saturday, August 12 (kick-off: 12:30pm).

Here is how we rated the players…

Shelvey: Made a couple of fantastic saves but also made a sloppy error which nearly led to a goal. 7/10

Aurier: Much better after a defensive horror show against Rennes. 7/10

Worrall: Continues to struggle playing out from the back but defended reasonably well. 6/10

McKenna: Was booked in the second half and made the odd concentration error which almost cost the Reds. 6/10

Boly: A mix-up with Shelvey almost led to Frankfurt scoring in the second half. 5/10

Aina: Has shown good early promise in a Forest shirt. 6/10

Yates: Shielded the defence well before coming off. 6/10

Mangala: Worked hard in midfield and covered the pitch well. 6/10

Danilo: Very little impact in midfield but had a good chance in the second-half which was tipped over by Trapp. 6/10

Gibbs-White: Struggled to create anything and showed his frustration before being booked in the first half. 5/10

Johnson: Very little impact but too early to judge on his return to the team. 6/10

Subs…

Wood: Had an excellent opportunity late on but miss-timed his header. 5/10

Williams: Made very little impact when he came on for Aina in the second half. 6/10

Elanga: Looked lively when he came on as the Reds began to put pressure on the Frankfurt defence. 7/10