Why familiar faces are lifting the mist on Nottingham Forest’s season

Nottingham Forest go into Wednesday evening’s game against Middlesbrough in their best shape of the season so far. It’s been a while coming for home supporters but with Neil Warnock’s side experiencing wobbles of their own, Chris Hughton will be hoping his side can continue on an upward trajectory.

Whilst the club’s hierarchy would have demanded nothing more than a place in the top six in the summer months, a catastrophic start to the season has seen any promotion aspirations firmly moved to one side.

On paper, Forest should be doing far better than what the table suggests but following the reduced preseason period, and signing 14 new players, bedding them into a squad still recovering from last season’s disastrous end has taken time.

As players adhere to COVID 19 restrictions away from the football pitch, opportunities for much-needed team bonding, with so many new faces, will have been limited and perhaps an oversight from Forest’s recruitment team.

As Forest ended a difficult run of fixtures against top-six sides coming into December, relegation concerns had been all over social media from a fan base that has seen their side look a shadow of the one under Sabri Lamouchi in the last campaign.

A depressing run of results after the October international break, saw Forest pick up just one point out of a possible 21. Leaking goals and struggling to score them, concerns have been allayed through December and into the New Year.

Whilst the play-offs are still mathematically possible, Hughton’s men will need to continue with the form shown since the turn of the new year. Three successive victories against Preston, Cardiff (FA Cup), and Millwall last Saturday have provided fans with cause for optimism that relegation concerns can be staved off and for the most optimistic of supporters, the season is not a complete write-off just yet.

So what’s changed at The City Ground? With Chris Hughton now getting his feet firmly under the table and having had a relatively good space of time to assess his squad, the ex-Brighton boss has not strayed too far from a fairly settled line-up.

After a disastrous start, where Forest had already tried out four different left-backs, Hughton has put faith in the majority of the consistent performers that did so well last year. If ‘it ain’t broke’ seems to have been the sensible approach with eight of last season’s squad members making up the numbers against Millwall on Saturday.

Despite a cataclysmic ending to that campaign, a 7th place finish at the very least is a sound platform to build upon.

Including his goalkeeper Brice Samba, the back five is once again settled, and the arrival of Scott McKenna from Aberdeen looks already to be an upgrade on Portuguese centre-back, Tobias Figueiredo. Cyrus Christie, who had the unenviable task of replacing Matty Cash has begun to settle, and whilst he has faced criticism from sections of the fanbase, his defensive performances have vastly improved in recent weeks.

Following a heavy 3-1 home defeat to Brentford in early December, Forest have only conceded a measly three goals in their last seven outings. The return of Joe Worrall from injury has been a timely boost and his reintroduction to the side has certainly coincided with the improvements defensively.

Following the defeat to Brentford, Worrall was extremely candid in his post-match interview responses and pulled no punches in his assessment that Forest’s then position in the league, was completely unacceptable.

With the upturn in fortunes, it looks fairly evident that his teammates have responded to some stern words in the changing room. One or two performers certainly looked to have their mojo back, including Samba and left-back Yuri Ribeiro. 

In midfield, Forest have struggled to fill the void vacated by Ben Watson’s departure but the fitness of Samba Sow has arguably been a bigger contributing factor to their difficulties. Statistics, up until his injury problems started last season, were evident that when Sow plays, Forest pick up results.

Now putting together back-to-back appearances, which were all too fleeting in the second half of the last season, the Malian’s influence in the middle of the park to dominate his opponents shouldn’t be questioned. Touchwood for Hughton, Sow’s fitness and performances are improving by the game and it’s no coincidence that results have picked up also.

“I would say we’re not far off where I would like us to be but to be the complete package we will have to do it more consistently. What separates us from those teams at the top is goalscoring, there’s no doubt about that. We need to make sure we are making the most of the chances we create but certainly I’ve been much happier with the all-round performance of the team in this current run of form.” – Chris Hughton

Whilst defensively Hughton looks to have remedied the immediate problems of conceding a number of sloppy goals, scoring them has remained an issue, one that blighted Sabri Lamouchi’s reign, as Forest were one of the lowest scorers in the Championship last season.

Joe Lolley, who has picked up niggling injuries has looked out of sorts so far, and the arrivals of Luke Freeman from Sheffield United and Anthony Knockaert from Brighton are players that are still yet to live up to expectations.

Knockaert has shown glimpses of the player that he can be, and with his loan deal now being extended until the end of the season, Forest fans will be hoping that he can add more firepower to get Forest climbing up the table. As Forest have been waiting for their ‘go-to’ players to produce the goods, it’s no surprise that goals have been even harder to come by and so to score three goals against Millwall at the weekend was a welcome boost.

Two goals from Sammy Ameobi (including one stunning strike) was a timely reminder of the ability he possesses in winning matches. A key performer last season, Ameobi is another that has not been able to recapture that level of form that has endeared him to the Forest faithful.

Saturday should act as a marker of what’s yet to come from him. Ryan Yates was another notable goalscorer for the Reds, having missed a host of guilt-edged chances already this campaign when getting into advanced positions. Whilst his defensive work can rarely be questioned, Yates can become a real asset to Forest if he can add goals to his game from midfield.

It’s taken them a little while to get going but the smiles are back on the player’s faces at The City Ground.

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