Mental block? Callum Hudson-Odoi given ‘basics’ advice by Nottingham Forest legend Stan Collymore as Reds winger is told how to rediscover lost spark

During his debut campaign on Trentside, following a cut-price £5 million ($7m) transfer in the summer of 2023, Hudson-Odoi registered eight Premier League goals - with a stunning strike on debut against Burnley offering an early indication of what was to come.

The three-cap England international quickly earned a reputation for cutting inside off the left flank and finding the back of the net, with defenders unable to contain the threat that he posed despite being fully aware of what was coming.

More memorable efforts were recorded in his second season as a Forest player - including a notable winner at Anfield against Liverpool - leading to a new contract through to 2028 being signed. Hudson-Odoi has struggled to make the desired impact this term.

He did bag a brace in a vital Premier League victory over Tottenham in December, but has failed to find the target across 11 top-flight outings since then. His only goals in 2026 came in a dramatic FA Cup clash with Wrexham that ended in penalty shootout heartache for the Reds.

Confidence appears to have drained from Hudson-Odoi’s game, with willingness to run at and beyond full-backs briefly deserting him. His ability, though, remains without question and advice has been offered on how to become a fearsome wideman once more.

Quizzed on whether Hudson-Odoi needs to work on mental strength as much as tactical nous, Reds icon Collymore - speaking exclusively to GOAL via Best Betting Bonuses - said: “I think so. I think that it's funny because when I started my career, two moves before I came to Forest, I was at Crystal Palace and the manager, Steve Coppell, who was a great winger himself for Man United and England, wanted me to be a wide man. And I always remember him saying to me - sometimes I’d go out on the right, but mostly on the left - ‘look, if you're having a poor spell of form as a wide man, all you've got to do is remember the basics, go past the man, put it in the box, six times out of 10, that's it’.

“And you can imagine somebody like Brian Clough saying to John Robertson - I know he's kind of Europe's best player arguably for three, four years, but Robbo didn't need telling at the end of his career. He obviously went on and played for Derby and when he went up north and played for Scotland. He knew, go past the full-back, put the cross in the box.

“I think what happens sometimes with wide men is they try to become too clever - they initially go past somebody, then they chop it back and they chop it back again, and before they know it, they're looking and they see a crowded box and they pass it back. Then it becomes too easy and it becomes a habit.

“I think that for Hudson-Odoi, it doesn't matter whether the teams come to the City Ground and attack them or not - whether they drop off, Burnley will probably drop off - he just needs the manager to put his arm around him and say, ‘get some chalk on your boots, on the touchline’. Get really wide because I think a lot of wide men cut down their own space. They come in off the touchline too much, which means you're five or six or 10 yards closer to the full-back.

“Stand on the touchline, which gives you the maximum distance between you and the full-back to be able to receive the ball and then to get some momentum. Go past him, put the cross in for [Chris] Wood - that's all you've got to do. Beat the man, put it in for Woody. Or don't beat the man and put it in for Woody. I think that way, it really simplifies the process.

“And all coaches and managers that I've worked with that have had wide men, and good wide men in particular, they've said to them, sometimes in plain English, ‘go past the full-back and put it into the box’. I think that once you do it once and you get some joy and you see a good cross put in, then you think, okay, the full-back then starts to drop off a little bit, gives you a little bit more space and it becomes cause and effect.

“So for Cal, it probably is mental. He now does the slowing things down or checking back and passing it inland much more than he should, as opposed to the sort of glory days of [Anthony] Elanga on the right, him down the left, bombing past people, putting it into Woody, who scores. He just needs to get back to doing those basics.”

Hudson-Odoi may get another opportunity to do just that when Forest entertain Porto in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday - with said tie locked at 1-1 on aggregate.

From there, Vitor Pereira’s side will welcome Burnley to the City Ground on Sunday for another crunch clash in what is shaping up to be a thrilling battle for Premier League survival. The Reds sit two places and three points above the relegation zone with six games left to take in.