Nottingham Forest DID try to sign a striker before the transfer window closed, according to head coach Sabri Lamouchi.
The Reds brought in 12 new arrivals during the summer – 11 of those since Lamouchi took charge – with midfielder John Bostock and defender Chema Rodriguez added on deadline day.
Forward Rafa Mir joined on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, but Tyler Walker is set to spend the season at Lincoln City, while Daryl Murphy and Jason Cummings are both understood to have been told they were free to leave the club.
It leaves Lewis Grabban as the focal point of the Forest attack, with Lamouchi admitting it ultimately proved too tough to strengthen up front.
And with some Reds fans having made their feelings clear - on social media at least - about the lack of a new addition in that department, the Frenchman joked they were not the only ones who would like to have seen a striker added.
He teased: “Not only the fans – also the manager!
“But it was so hard and difficult.
“The club tried, they looked at many options and talked with many players. It was not easy.
“Unfortunately we were not able to strengthen in this area.”
However, Lamouchi did not completely rule out saying: “If we can, we will look, but it is just the free agents, so you don’t have much choice.”
The Forest boss though, says overall he is happy with the business done in the transfer market.
And he is just glad the window has now shut, leaving him to focus on matters on the pitch, with a trip to Leeds United to come tomorrow.
In addition to Bostock, Rodriguez and Mir, the Reds signed Sammy Ameobi, Tiago Silva, Yuri Ribeiro, Alfa Semedo, Albert Adomah, Samba Sow, Arijanet Muric, Brice Samba and Carl Jenkinson.
“I am happy because it is finished. We can focus now on our players. The season really starts now,” said Lamouchi, who saw his team beaten by West Bromwich Albion at the City Ground on the opening day.
“We changed a lot of players and the club has done the maximum to satisfy all our requests.
“I am happy because now we can just focus on our players and work with them.
“We want to start working with the new players and focus on the season.
“We have an important game tomorrow. I don’t want to focus on anything other than the game tomorrow, because it will be very tough.”
