A shortlist of three sculptors has now been drawn-up in the process to decide who will create Nottingham's statue of the legendary football manager Brian Clough.

Eighteen submissions were received from artists and these were considered by Nottingham City Council, which will commission the statue, in consultation with Brian Clough's family and the Brian Clough Statue Fund, which raised £69,000 for the sculpture.

The short listed sculptors are Les Johnson, who is based in Hampshire; Keith Maddison from Northumberland and John McKenna from Ayrshire in Scotland.

They will each be asked to make a miniature version of a statue of Brian Clough, called a maquette. These miniatures will then be put on display at Nottingham Council House, for the public to see and give their views, before a selection panel decides which artist should be commissioned to make the full bronze statue.

The chairman of the statue fund, Paul Ellis, said the three artists would be asked to make a miniature of Cloughie dressed in his famous green sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms.

"This is a big step forward for the statue plans," said Paul. "It is vital we have the right statue by the right sculptor so that generations to come can be proud of it.

"We have been consulting closely with Mr Clough's family and their views have been crucial in this selection process and of course will continue to be so. We have discussed with them possible poses for the statue. But obviously the artists will need to come-up with their own interpretations of the poses too."

Forest's Chief Executive Mark Arthur welcomed the news that a shortlist had been compiled. "This is great news and obviously an important development in the whole statue process. We have supported the statue fund's efforts all along and everyone at the club looks forward to the day when Nottingham sees a statue in tribute to Brian Clough and his achievements."

It has already been agreed that the statue will be situated in a prominent city centre location. The preferred site is at the junction of King Street and Queen Street, looking towards the Market Square.