Nottingham Forest news: Morgan Gibbs-White needs Champions League

Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge believes that the Reds will struggle to hold on to their best players going into next season, particularly Morgan Gibbs-White.

Hodge told BBC Radio Nottingham’s Shut Up And Show More Football podcast that Gibbs-White needs to be in the Champions League in order to make a World Cup squad.

“It’s a fact, it’s the way of football,” he said. “If he wants to go to a World Cup he’ll probably believe that Thomas Tuchel wants him in a Champions League team, either in England or Europe somewhere.

“These players are here for their career, to enhance their career, and if they see a better opportunity elsewhere they will want to move on. I think that’s genuinely how players should look at it.

“Opportunity comes along every now and then and the players will look at it and think: ‘I want to be at the World Cup next year so I need to be playing in the Champions League.’

“Thomas Tuchel and the like will say: ‘You need to be with a team that’s challenging with the pressure of having to go somewhere and win a game.’ At Forest, it’s a bit different.”

Listen to more from Hodge on the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast on BBC Sounds here