Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares finally made his return to the pitch for Nottingham Forest on Sunday, earning praise from many supporters.

Nuno Tavares has had a tough time on loan with Nottingham Forest so far, but he seems to have been given a second chance under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Days after the new boss’ appointment, Tavares made his first matchday squad for a month and a half, despite being fit throughout the period of his absence.

On Sunday, Tavares took the next step, getting 45 minutes as a substitute in Forest’s FA Cup clash with Blackpool.

Forest had started the cup tie very poorly, going 2-0 down in the first half-hour, but they sparked some hope just before the break as Nicolas Dominguez pulled one back for 2-1.

Tavares was introduced in place of Harry Toffolo over half-time, and Forest found a second-half equaliser to force a replay. The Arsenal man was part of the move, playing Callum Hudson-Odoi in behind before the winger set up the goal.

Most Forest fans seemed to be pleased with the performance of the on-loan Arsenal man.

• @Balh2904: “Nuno Tavares is going to be some player”
• @thebezzler: “Bright second half from Nuno Tavares”
• @benh2827: “One positive today – I thought Nuno Tavares looked very good when he came on”
• @wt_analysis: “Nuno Tavares looked good going forward in the 2nd half”
• @t_nffc: “Really thought Nuno Tavares was good when he came on defensively, [deserves] more minutes this season”

Not every fan agreed, with the usual suggestions that Tavares seems to be a lot more comfortable going forward than in his own penalty area. But for a first game in over three months, the reception was largely positive.

Tavares played in Forest’s first three games following his loan move, but he then picked up an injury forcing him out of action for a few games.

The left-back returned to fitness and to the bench against Liverpool in late October, and he was on the bench again at home to Aston Villa the following week, but he didn’t come on in either fixture.

After that, Tavares disappeared from the squad completely.

This time, there were no reports to suggest Tavares was injured, and he continued to feature in training for his loan side the entire time he was absent from matches.

After missing out on Forest’s defeat to West Ham, there were some signs that Tavares was unhappy, deleting his profile picture from his Instagram account, then deleting his account completely.

But things seem to be turning around under new management.