Jonjo Shelvey sent home in disgrace by Forest boss Steve Cooper for ‘throwing toys out pram’ after being named on bench

JONJO SHELVEY faces a fight to save his season after he was sent home in disgrace last weekend by his frustrated Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper.

Cooper's patience snapped after Shelvey reacted angrily to being named as a substitute for Saturday's trip to his former club Liverpool.

SunSport has been told the 31-year-old midfielder "threw his toys out of the pram," and confronted the Forest boss following a team meeting, after learning he had been relegated to the bench for the second match on the spin.

Shelvey's anger flared when he realised he would not be starting against his former Anfield teammates and his negative attitude surfaced on the training pitch.

With Forest's season on the line, Cooper decided he could not carry anyone who was not 100% focused on the task in hand and axed him from his squad for the trip to Merseyside.

It is understood, although popular with many of his teammates, the majority of Forest's squad sympathised with Cooper's call to remove Shelvey from his squad in the interests of team unity.

Without Shelvey, Forest pushed Liverpool all the way and were unfortunate to lose by the odd goal in a five-goal thriller.

The fiery midfielder was not fined for his behaviour and returned to training yesterday.

But he faces a fight to regain his place for Forest, who only have six games left to save their season.

Shelvey still has two years of his contract to run after he was signed from Newcastle United for a nominal fee in January.

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But the combative midfielder has only made eight appearances for his new club.

He lost his place earlier this month after his blunder gifted Aston Villa their opening goal as Forest crashed 2-0 at Villa Park.

Cooper claimed Shelvey was a doubt for tomorrow night's crucial home game against Brighton with a calf knock, when 17th-placed Forest will again attempt to clamber clear of the drop zone.