This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
A ‘hungry’ Fernando Forestieri may have just proven why Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk needs to call on him more after his goalscoring impact from the bench on Saturday afternoon.
In typical fashion, the Owls saw a victory snatched from their grasp as Swansea City managed to squirm home an equaliser four minutes into injury time.
Morgan Fox thought he had won it for the home side, firing in an attempt in the 91st minute, but Ben Wilmot’s effort from a corner put pay to three points.
The game had a late flurry of goals that was kickstarted by super-sub Forestieri, who bagged less than ten minutes from time after being introduced halfway through the second period.
The Italian forward has barely featured since returning from a six-match suspension. He’s played just 73 minutes since Monk took charge at the start of September, but that surely has to change after the impact he had on the match.
Per SofaScore, Forestieri won three of his five ground battles, recorded a passing accuracy of 83%, and of course, scored the goal which looked to have kickstarted a comeback.
The 29-year-old has twice been the club’s top goalscorer in his first two seasons at Hillsborough, in fact, but he has long needed someone to get that level of form out of him once again – and that’s precisely what Monk must do.
But he’ll only be able to if he’s played more regularly, which surely must happen after his appearance against Swansea.
Forestieri said after the game: “I am hungry. I need to keep going and when I get a chance I need to try and play well and help the team.”
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The former Watford man possesses the sort of flair and creativeness that no other attacking player has for the Owls, which makes him an interesting prospect, whether that be alongside Steven Fletcher or in the number ten role.
Wednesday recorded 20 shots at goal on Saturday, and only drew the game, Monk must look towards Forestieri from here on out.