It is a question Jack Colback admits he finds difficult to answer - why have Nottingham Forest found themselves at the wrong end of the table this season?
There’s probably no single reason, and fans will no doubt have their own theories.
But rather than searching for an explanation, Colback’s focus is very much on a solution; on climbing away from danger.
Chris Hughton’s side are currently on a good run of form, with one defeat in 10 league matches, though still find themselves 18th in the Championship.
The Reds midfielder pulls no punches when discussing the campaign so far, but is confident it will get better.
“It’s tough. I get friends and family asking what’s going on. It’s tough to answer because it doesn’t really make sense,” Colback told NottinghamshireLive.
“With the players we’ve got, we should be doing better. Bottom line, we should be doing better.
“Obviously the situation with the pandemic and not having fans, you see strange results everywhere and teams struggling who shouldn’t be. But we can’t use that as an excuse.
“We’ve got to take responsibility, keep putting in performances and see where we can get to this season, then go from there.
“We’re in a position we don’t want to be in, but we’ve got to stick at it and try to win more games.
“After this many games, the table doesn’t lie, so we’ve got to start looking at ourselves.
“No matter how much talent you’ve got, if you don’t work hard on a matchday, there’s teams in this league who are fighting for their lives.
“We need to do the same, appreciate where we are and don’t think we’re too good, because we’ve shown we’re not too good at the minute, with where we are.
“We’ve got to stay positive, work hard and I fully believe we’ll be absolutely fine. We’ve got enough quality to move up the league, then we can see where we end up and look forward.”
He added: "We need to realise the situation we're in. We cannot take any game for granted because we're in a position that is unusual for us, in terms of the expectations at the start of the season.
“We are where we are.
We have to make sure we come out and we work hard and we run, because it’s not just about the quality in the squad.
“I’m sure people might be a bit sick of hearing that because of where we are. But there is a hell of a lot of quality in the squad.
“But we have to work hard and we have to run in this league. If we take our foot off the gas then we'll keep getting dragged into areas where we don't want to be.
“We’ve just got to approach each game differently, try to take as many points as we can and see where we end up.”
Since a miserable run in mid-November and December, when they lost six out of seven games, Forest have picked up.
Their sole Championship defeat since turning something of a corner came against Middlesbrough last month.
And although that was followed by a humbling FA Cup exit, they have responded by drawing at home to Barnsley and recording back-to-back away wins.
There is a hectic run of fixtures coming up, however, and that is when Colback says playing behind closed doors is particularly noticeable.
“We’re on a good run, which is tough in any league - especially with the (covid) situation,” said the former Newcastle United man.
“We reacted well to that defeat against Middlesbrough. I think we’ve done that most of the season - we’ve always reacted, we just now need to push on and not take a step back again.
“We’re working hard and the gaffer is working hard to put his points across.
“The fixtures have settled down a bit in the last couple of weeks. At the start of the season, we had games most midweeks.
“It’s pretty relentless at times, but it’s the same for everyone.
“That’s probably where you miss the fans the most - where you’re coming into a game off the back of two games in a week; you’ve got another one where you’re maybe not 100 percent in terms of sharpness.
“It’s a cliche, but especially at home, that’s where the fans can give you that extra 10 percent.
“In this league, games are so tight, that can give you an edge.
“We’ve just got to deal with it, like everyone else.
“We always prepare right and get plenty of rest, to give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”
