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Aitor Karanka believes he has a tough job on his hands this summer - but he is very happy about it.

The Nottingham Forest manager already feels he will find it difficult to pick his starting XI when his side kick-off the Championship season at Bristol City in August.

But he could not be happier about it.

After seeing the Reds secure a solid 3-0 win over Malaga to round off their week-long pre-season training camp in Spain in perfect fashion, Karanka is in positive mood.

Even if he concedes he is already scratching his head a little bit, when it comes to his team selection for the coming season, having seen Forest add real quality to their squad this summer in the transfer market.

“That is the tough job I wanted. As a manager you always want to have the best squad you can,” said Karanka.

“Last season, particularly at the end, we were missing players on the bench, who could change games.

“Now we have more than one in every single position.

“Now it is good. The players feel the pressure (to get into the side). They are improving every day and I am really pleased.”

(Image: Nottingham Forest FC)

Karanka felt the performance against Malaga was the perfect way to round off their preparations at the Marbella Football Centre.

“I told the players before the game that I would like to finish this week with a good taste in our mouth and they did really well,” he said.

“We finished this week well, just as we had finished our two previous weeks of work well.

“We had a good week at St George’s Park, we had a good week in Nottingham and now this week has been almost perfect.

“We can always improve. But it has been good.”

It took Forest a while to get going in the Spanish sunshine, with Malaga in control for 15 minutes at the start.

(Image: Nottingham Forest FC)

But once the Reds clicked into life, they controlled the game and won, in the end, fairly comfortably, with goals from Gil Dias, Ben Osborn and Hillal Soudani.

“It can be difficult because of the weather and it took us a while to get into the game. But after 15 minutes we were much better,” said Karanka.

“Even after they had changed the team and they should have been fresher, we were much better than them.

“We scored three goals, we kept a clean sheet, the attitude was good and we did not collect any injuries. So we are happy.

“But I do not care that much about the goals or the fact that we lost last Saturday – I am just pleased more about the performances we have produced.

“Today I am really pleased with the performance, I am pleased that we are making progress. But there is a long way to go.”

All three goals had real quality, but it was Osborn’s in particular that stood out, as he cut inside from left-back to deliver a thumping right-footed shot high into the corner of the net.

“We were joking with him that it was a cross – but he said it was a clearance! Any goal is important, however it goes in,” said Karanka.

“We just need to keep it going. I said at the beginning of pre-season that it would be difficult for me to pick the first 11 on August 4 and it will be, from what we have seen, because every single player is playing really well.

“Even the players who have come from the academy, like Anel, Jordan, Appiah, Virgil and Thomas Lam – they have all been very good.”