Acheampong thumped a header past Matz Sels shortly after the interval to put the Blues ahead and open his account for the club on his 19th appearance.

It was a special moment for the Academy graduate, and another marker in his development.

‘I have said many times I really like Josh,’ said Maresca.

‘We showed confidence in him last season. He is doing well. It’s important also that when Levi is out, or Tosin is out, the other ones are ready.

‘He needs to improve, for sure. It is our duty as a coaching staff and me as a manager to help the players improve. If we improve the players, we improve the team, and we are working every day with Josh to try to improve him.’

The same goes for Guiu, who offered extra physicality to our attack against a three-man Forest defence Maresca admitted he hadn’t anticipated.

‘That’s the kind of impact I want him to make. He was on for 15 minutes against Liverpool, battling against Van Dijk, Konate, Gravenberch, he was very good,' Maresca said.

‘Against Forest, after one minute of the second half, he won a corner against Morato. We need that from Marc.’

Maresca also updated on two players who didn’t feature at the City Ground, Enzo Fernandez and Wesley Fofana. Their situations are different, Maresca explained.

‘Enzo Fernandez has a small problem that at the moment we are not able to say if he will be available for Ajax or not.

‘With Wes, it is just a way to try to protect him. I have said many times I really like Wes and he is going to play games, it is just to protect him. He will be available for Ajax.'

Maresca added: ‘What we need to do with Wes and Romeo is what we have done with Reece. Now Reece is playing almost every game, he is fit, he is good. I would love to have Romeo and Wes on the pitch every single game, but it’s not possible.

‘We need to manage them. The main target this season is to rotate and try to keep them fit.’