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I think it’s fair to say that opening month of the season has so far been a mixed bag.

Nottingham Forest may remain unbeaten so far in the Championship, however, I must admit to being slightly worried about some of their performances, not just the lack of chances being created, but how easy they are to play against.

Sides know that Aitor Karanka’s team will try and play it out from the back, so all they’ll do is push up from the back, four or five yards and say, ‘they’ll play it out from the back, they’ll play it out long, so we’ll pressure them into making mistakes and giving the ball away.’

We’re not the most athletic or physical side and we don’t look overly comfortable with balls coming into the box, in defending set-pieces and we don’t look like we’re going to score from set-pieces.

(Image: Ritchie Sumpter @ JMS Photograph)

The players the manager has got at Forest and had at Middlesbrough when he won promotion are very different, and the current crop probably don’t suit the rigid, defensive style that he won promotion with at the Riverside Stadium, and the Championship has evolved in that time.

When you look at the teams which got promoted last season, look at Cardiff; how strong and athletic they were in both boxes, they could defend well and score goals from set-pieces - they were very good – Forest on the other hand, look a soft touch.

Brian Clough used to talk about stopping the cross and it’s so important, yet it’s something Forest don’t do very well and it’s costing them, just as it did last season, and they’re struggling to win the second balls, that was especially evident against Birmingham.

At the moment, Karanka doesn’t seem to know his best team. He’s leaving out the players that he brought in the summer and none of them are playing consistently.

It’s making it difficult for Forest to play the way they want to play, teams are refusing to give them any time on the ball.

(Image: Ritchie Sumpter @ JMS Photograph)

Opposition teams know the Reds have good ball players, they know that if they afford them the time and space then Forest will hurt them, they’d have seen what they did against West Brom for the majority of the game, we’ve not seen that level of performance since.

Against Bury, it took until Ben Osborn’s free-kick in the last couple of minutes before they had a shot on target, against Birmingham, it was when Joe Lolley came on in the 75th minute - this has to be a concern.

We have got out of jail a couple of times so far and the manager needs to find that level of consistency in selection.

They’ve got to start winning games, you can’t keep drawing games. You have to get on the front foot and going in front in games rather than going behind in games.

Something has got to change, it just doesn’t seem like he’s clear in his own mind what his best team is at the moment.

Who he can put out there, who he can trust and who he can’t.

Largely against Wigan and Birmingham, it was the same group of players that struggled last season. It’s disappointing because everything off the field seems so positive, we just need to get it right on it and then it’ll be a fabulous place to be.

We’re still in the opening month, still unbeaten in the league and we shouldn’t forget that.

The early term card would say must do better!