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Lewis Grabban praised the resilience, togetherness and effort of Nottingham Forest’s B Team as the young Reds booked their place in the final of the Premier League International Cup.
Extra time goals from Archie Whitehall and Manni Norkett secured Forest’s progress to the final of the competition with a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao at The City Ground on Tuesday evening.
Forest’s place in the final comes on the back of the conclusion of the Premier League 2, with the young Reds currently occupying a top 16 spot with matches still to be played.
B Team coach Grabban was pleased with how the players rose to the occasion and highlighted the importance of the experience the players will gain from progression.
“The boys did really well, handled the challenge all over the pitch and now we’re through to the final which is really good.
“The boys are prepared for those moments when there’s high minutes. They put in lots of effort and covered lots of miles so fair play to them.
“We try and keep pushing, that’s our mentality and the boys did that and they got their reward.
“They’re (Athletic Bilbao) a good side, there’s no doubt about that. They do things well and they have good players across the pitch, we had challenges all over but the boys rose to that and on the flip side we gave them challenges which we got our rewards from.
“Playing here, in front of fans on the first team pitch in a semi-final adds to their experience and knowledge base and it will benefit them in the future.
“We try and make sure the subs are ready to impact the game and in those moments we felt those players in particular could benefit us and credit to them, they did their job.”