The Championship 2014/15 – Forest

Vital Reading season preview

Club: Nottingham Forest

Founded: 1865

Nickname: Forest

Ground: The City Ground (Capacity: 30,615)

When we face off: Sat 23rd August (A), Sat 28th February (H)

Last season finish: 11th – Championship

Manager: Stuart Pearce – After seven years out of club management, working with the England under 21s and the Great Britain Olympic team, he returns to the club where he made over 500 appearances as a player. His time as Man City manager won’t bring back the best of memories, but will hope to prove himself at club level, as he looks to bring long-awaited success to Forest.

Key player: Jamie Paterson – The former Walsall winger burst onto the scene at Forest last season and hasn’t looked back since. He has managed 25 goals in the previous two seasons (one of which was with Walsall), which is a very good record for a winger, which some strikers may not even be able to boast. At 22, he has many years to improve further, but he is showing great early signs to develop into a top winger.

Season Preview: There has been much expectancy at Forest in recent years, but the managerial merry-go round has not helped matters in recent seasons. Owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi hopes Stuart Pearce can be the man to finally take them back to the top division and with signings such as Britt Assombalonga, Michael Mancienne and Chris Burke to add depth to their respective positions, boast a squad to do just do that. While I don’t think Forest have enough to challenge for the autos, they are definitely worth a shout for the play-offs.