By Paul Jones
Albert Adomah has claimed he should have stayed at Nottingham Forest rather than get dragged into a dispute between his parent club and Cardiff City.
The winger has returned to Forest after Cardiff failed to extend his loan spell, despite appealing to the EFL.
Bluebirds manager Neil Harris branded the decision a disgrace, but Adomah has insisted he never wanted to leave Forest in the first place and the row could have been avoided.
The 32-year-old former Aston Villa player is likely to figure for Cardiff this evening at home to Charlton and then return to Forest, where regulations will not allow him to play again this season.
Responding to a Forest fan on Instagram, Adomah said: “Simple, I can’t play if I come back.
“They (Forest) shouldn’t have loaned me out in the first place. Now I’m helping another club.
“Forest are playing hard (mouth zipped emoji). Guys please remember one thing. I DID NOT want to leave Forest. FACT!!
Sometimes players get treated like (mouth zipped emoji). Before you leave any comments please think carefully.”
Adomah has been on loan at Cardiff since January but that deal is due to expire after today and Forest have refused to extend the agreement.
That has angered Harris, who wanted the EFL to automatically extend the loan until the end of the current season.
“Albert’s last game for us will be tomorrow (Tuesday), unless something changes,” said Harris.
Adomah has figured in eight of the Bluebirds’ 16 Championship matches since making his loan move on January 31 and has started in both the club’s victories – over Leeds United and Preston – since the campaign resumed.
Harris added: “I understand Forest’s reasoning behind the scenes. Contractually he is their player. As a club we can do no more than ask the questions.
“The player wants to stay and we want him to stay. Nottingham Forest aren’t breaking any rules by not letting him stay.
“He would have been completely available if the EFL had taken ownership of the situation and made it compulsory for players to stay, or certainly leaving the decision to the player and the loan club. In my opinion, that’s the way it should have been.
“I’ve given up on the EFL. Would I be hopeful for Albert staying? Of course I would – I love working with him and he has done really well for us.
“I wouldn’t have liked to have been put in the same position as Nottingham Forest. I would have wanted clarity from the governing body and for the EFL to have made the decision for me. Forest are in a tricky position.
“My only thought on Forest is that they signed a loan agreement with us to take it to the end of the season after the play-offs. The integrity of that is my only question. That’s all they have to answer.”
Charlton visit Cardiff having also won both their matches since the season re-started – a 1-0 win at Hull and then a home victory over QPR by the same scoreline.
But they are still only three points above the relegation zone and Harris added: “Charlton have done exceptionally well.
“I’ve watched both of their games and there’s a slight change of tack since when we last played them.
“They’ve looked resolute defensively and extremely well organised in the two games back.
“It’s every bit as tough as Leeds and Preston – tougher in some ways maybe, as the players have to be mentally focused on the challenge of playing a team scrapping for their lives.
“The message to the players is: the same level of performance. If we put in that level of performance then we’ll win most games.”
