After an incredibly poor start during their return to the Premier League, former two-time European Cup winner Nottingham Forest have begun to find their footing in the top flight of English football under Steve Cooper, with Forest in the midst of a solid run of form that has seen them taste defeat just once in their last six league fixtures (3-2-1).
Nottingham Forest have now signed 26 players during the 2022/23 season. 🤯
You can make an entire squad… pic.twitter.com/un7LBlktgD
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 20, 2023
Forest, who today added Chris Wood on loan for the remainder of the season (with an option to purchase him in the summer for £15m) to continue to bolster their ranks via the market, has drawn plenty of criticism for the number of signings they have made across the entirety of the 2022-23 season. But as signings have bedded into life at the City Ground and Cooper found his own footing on the touchline, the club has begun to work its way up the table of late, with recent draws against both Brentford and Chelsea offering further evidence that they should be perfectly capable of avoiding the drop this season.
Predicted Nottingham Forest XI
Nottingham Forest Team News
- Out: Giulian Biancone, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Omar Richards, Moussa Niakhaté, Jesse Lingard, Willy Boly
- Doubt: Taiwo Awoniyi, Ryan Yates
Questions across the backline in terms of selection are sure to give manager Steve Cooper a headache once more as Nottingham Forest looks to travel south in search of a three-point haul against relegation-threatened Bournemouth.
Forest is set to be without five of their summer reinforcements in the back line, with Cooper having to rely on last season’s first-choice center-back pair Scott McKenna and Joe Worrall for the time being. Jesse Lingard is also unavailable, but that is a far less pressing issue for Cooper given the availability of Gustavo Scarpa in the 10 role, who is likely to slot in behind Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson.
