NOTTINGHAM FOREST legend Kenny Burns reckons Jason Cummings will be catching the eye of Reds boss Aitor Karanka.

The striker fired Rangers into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup with the first hat-trick of his professional career at Ibrox on Sunday.

Cummings has also netted against Ross County and Ayr United since making the loan switch from Forest during the January transfer window.

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He could be given another chance to shine in the Old Firm clash on Sunday and Burns believes his performances north of the border won’t have gone unnoticed at the City Ground.

He told the Nottingham Post: "Aitor Karanka must be taking notice of Jason Cummings.

"[Five] goals in his first 10 matches on loan at Rangers, including a first hat-trick of his career, if he keeps up that strike-rate between now and the end of the season you would expect him to get a chance to impress the Forest boss come pre-season – if he wants an opportunity, that is.

“Karanka has already made it perfectly clear he only wants players in his squad who are totally committed to the cause, to the club’s Premier League ‘project’ as he calls it, and you get the impression Cummings might want to stay at Ibrox come the summer, from what he’s said since he joined them in January.

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“If he does want to come back to the City Ground, then you hope playing in the Scottish Premiership for half a season, and scoring goals, will give him the belief he can do the business in the Championship – not that he’s ever short of confidence!

“Don’t forget he arrived at Forest in the summer having never played higher than the Scottish Championship, so the Scottish Premiership is a step-up in class from that, and the Championship is another step-up from that.

“We’ve seen it before with players scoring lots of goals in Scotland but struggling in England.

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“Leigh Griffiths scored something like a 1,000,003 goals north of the border, but couldn’t hit a barn door for Wolves.

“It’s too early to say if Cummings could transfer his prolific scoring form in Scotland into the Championship, he didn’t get many games for Forest and left just after Karanka’s first match in charge.

“But he’s scored lots of goals for Hibs and he’s banging them in for Rangers now. It’s up to Karanka and the player himself to decide if he gets the chance to prove he can score goals for Forest.”