The summer transfer window brought with it an influx of new arrivals at the City Ground, with Nottingham Forest making a grand total of 12 signings.
From the goalkeeping department to defence, through midfield and in attack, the Reds strengthened in pretty much every area of the pitch in a bid to provide head coach Sabri Lamouchi with a squad capable of challenging for promotion.
It means there are tough choices to make across the team, when it comes to the Frenchman selecting his matchday starting line-up.
And with the transfer window now closed, this is our verdict on Forest’s strongest XI, once everyone is fit and the manager has a full squad to select from.
Goalkeeper
A tough pick to start with, though Lamouchi has made it very clear where he stands on this front.
Costel Pantilimon and Jordan Smith find themselves frozen out, despite the former racking up 15 clean-sheets in the Championship last term.
That means it is a straight shootout between Arijanet Muric and Brice Samba for the spot between the posts.
Samba did well on his debut against Fleetwood Town in midweek, making some decent saves, but it’s difficult to see him unseating Muric from the No.1 role while the Manchester City loanee is at the City Ground.
It has been a tough start for the Kosovo international, but he comes with Pep Guardiola’s backing, so expect him to improve as the campaign goes on. Deserves to get a run of games to find his feet in the Championship.
Defence
As admirable a job as Matty Cash has done in the back line, from Arsenal allows Lamouchi to pick a specialised right-back in that position.
Jenkinson looked solid in midweek and could have marked his first appearance in the Garibaldi with a goal.
Cash has made great strides when it comes to the defensive side of his game, but is nevertheless still more effective further up the pitch.
Tendayi Darikwa will provide some tough competition when fit, though.
Left-back is a pretty easy call, too – at least for the time being.
Yuri Ribeiro gave a good account of himself in the cup, but it’s still too early to judge the young Portuguese.
By contrast, you know what you’re going to get with Jack Robinson – a steady, solid performance week in, week out.
Choosing the centre-backs is a little tougher.
Joe Worrall and Michael Dawson have been the preferred partnership in the league games so far, and haven’t done a great deal wrong. Their strong characters and leadership skills have also been evident, and it seems likely Lamouchi will keep faith with the duo.
We’ve yet to see what left-sided centre-back Chema Rodriguez can do, but, based on past displays, Tobias Figueiredo and Alexander Milosevic could still have plenty to offer.
The latter, especially, seems to be down the pecking order – a sign of the strength Forest have in this particular position.
Midfield
Once everyone is fit, there are plenty of options for Lamouchi here, which means some very good players are going to find themselves out of the team.
Summer signing Alfa Semedo has to be one of the first names on the teamsheet at the moment, given he has arguably been man of the match in the two Championship games he’s played.
And Samba Sow made a good impression during his full debut in midweek, earning a round of applause with a crunching tackle. He has the potential to be an effective shield in front of the back four.
Tiago Silva – his superb strike against Fleetwood aside – has been a little quieter so far, with a tendency to drift in and out of games.
The Portuguese will undoubtedly improve with more game time under his belt, but even so, when Joao Carvalho has recovered from injury, he surely has to come straight back into the side.
Lamouchi has spoken highly of the club record signing and sees him as a key player this term, so expect him to feature regularly in an attacking role.
It’s not easy to select the three players, in a 4-3-3 formation, though.
Ryan Yates will no doubt be in contention when he’s back from a knee problem, while John Bostock will hope to get his chance. Ben Watson has started the opening two league games, and Claudio Yacob – although out of favour – looked a class act whenever he played last term.
Attack
No contest when it comes to the main striker. Lewis Grabban is THE man.
In truth, Lamouchi doesn’t really have much choice up front. But when he’s on form and firing like he can, it would take someone special to bump Grabban down the order anyway.
Forest haven’t got the best out of him yet under Lamouchi, but that’s a whole different topic.
Rafa Mir got his chance to catch the eye in the cup. The Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee has looked bright from off the bench, however, he struggled to make an impact from the start against Fleetwood.
When it comes to support acts for Grabban, everyone knows what Joe Lolley can do.
The winger is this term, but nevertheless possesses the quality to cause any team problems.
Arvin Appiah, Matty Cash and Albert Adomah are capable of doing that too. But Sammy Ameobi helped change the game for the Reds at Leeds, with his direct style of play, so probably deserves to get the nod for now.
Strongest Forest XI: Muric; Jenkinson, Worrall, Figueiredo, Robinson; Sow, Semedo, Carvalho; Lolley, Ameobi, Grabban.
