“He’ll (Lascelles) definitely take time. What he is at the minute is someone who needs to learn the game at Premier League level,” Steve Stone said when speaking to Nottingham Post.
“It’s totally different to the Championship let me tell you. He needs to fit into structures, not just his own game.
“This is a great learning curve for him this season. There’s no pressure on him.
“He’s played a couple of games. He’s not quite ready yet, but maybe next season he’ll be better for it.
“He’s got the presence and the attributes. It’s about transferring that to the highest level.
“He needs to understand what Premier League centre forwards do. They’re a totally different level to what he’s used to.”
Darlow, 25, has played once this season in the Capital One Cup. It appeared he may get his chance when number one Tim Krul was ruled out for the rest of the campaign, but Darlow was also injured at the time the Dutch stopper got hurt.
Former Forest midfielder Stone feels Darlow’s progress might actually have been hurt by Krul’s injury as he was the perfect role model for the goalkeeper.
“He needs to be around top coaches and keepers. He needs to watch what Tim Krul does every day,” said Stone.
“It’s a real shame Tim is out for the season. He’s lost the chance to watch and learn what the best do.
“Tim is a World Cup keeper for Holland and a Premier League keeper for five years. Karl can learn from him.
“He’s young. You look at keepers who are 27 or 28 and they’re still learning. He’s in the right place. Newcastle give youngsters a chance. They buy cheap. With no disrespect to Forest they’ve come from a lower club. They’ll try to get him to the next level.”
Darlow played in 110 games for the Reds, while fellow academy graduate Lascelles played in 55, scoring once.