JONJO SHELVEY has been AXED from Nottingham Forest’s squad for their clash against Brighton this evening.
The midfielder, 31, was sent home by manager Steve Cooper at the weekend after reacting angrily to being named on the bench for the 3-2 loss to Liverpool.
He was subsequently banished from training.
And now he has been omitted from The Tricky Trees’ squad altogether as they prepare to welcome Brighton to the City Ground.
Forest head into the game two points adrift of safety following a dreadful run of form.
Cooper’s men have not won any of their last 11 Premier League games – a run that stretches back to the beginning of February.
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And it looks as though they are going to have to fight relegation without Shelvey for the time being.
SunSport has been told the ex-Liverpool man “threw his toys out of the pram,” and confronted Cooper following a team meeting, after learning he had been relegated to the bench for the second match on the spin.
Shelvey’s anger flared when he realised he would not be starting against his former Anfield team-mates and his negative attitude surfaced on the training pitch.
With Forest’s season on the line, Cooper decided he could not carry anyone who was not 100 per cent focused on the task in hand and axed him from his squad for the trip to Merseyside.
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It is understood, although popular with many of his team-mates, the majority of Forest’s players sympathised with Cooper’s call to remove Shelvey from his squad in the interests of team unity.
Shelvey still has two years of his contract to run after he was signed from Newcastle United for a nominal fee in January.
But the combative midfielder has only made eight appearances for his new club.
He lost his place earlier this month after his blunder gifted Aston Villa their opening goal as Forest lost 2-0 at Villa Park.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk