Nottingham Forest-supporting pundit Steve Hodge raved about Orel Mangala after his display on Sunday against Aston Villa. The midfielder scored as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners.

Mangala has really kicked on at Forest this season. He’s been an integral player under Steve Cooper and he looks well established in the team at the moment.

The 25-year-old has received plenty of praise in the aftermath of his performance against Villa. Darren Fletcher has praised Mangala on one podcast and he’s also explained what Roberto Martinez told him about the Forest player.

Hodge raved about Mangala live on air

The BBC Radio Nottingham co-commentator went absolutely ballistic at the weekend. He was screaming, ‘It’s in’ over and over when Emi Martinez had spilt Mangala’s shot over the line.

Luckily, the referee’s watch was working on this occasion. He signalled that Mangala had scored his first home Forest goal and the City Ground erupted.

Hodge said on BBC Radio Nottingham: “It’s Mangala’s first of the season! What a cracking hit!”

Forest won on Sunday thanks to goals from the midfielder and Ola Aina. Hodge also praised Aina – as well as Forest star Mangala – for his effort earlier in Sunday’s live broadcast.

Mangala has finally taken off at Forest

The talented Mangala only cost the club £12.7 million from Stuttgart in the summer of 2022. He’s showcased how much of a bargain that price is proving and now looks like part of the furniture.

Forest fans are now starting to see the real Mangala. Last season was a little bit stop-start for the player as he suffered a couple of niggling injury issues to contend with.

Now, he’s very much established at the club. Forest have a plethora of midfielders in the squad but the ones on the fringes will need to work very hard to oust Mangala from the team any time soon.