Nottinghamshire

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We asked for your views on what might be going under the radar with Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Mark: Another couple of points will guarantee Forest finish no lower than seventh. Wow, what a great campaign. European football in any guise would not have been a consideration prior to the season starting. I would have settled for 12th or close to it. Hopefully seventh would still get a European berth but I'm a little concerned matters could be taken out of our hands elsewhere, depending on who wins what.

Dave: That Europa League qualification would be a massive success this year. And probably a better fit for our squad to compete.

Alison: That the Europa League might be a better adjustment to European football for Forest rather than the Champions League is not something you want to be saying on the terraces.

Edward: This season has been a high-wire act of epic proportions. A small, shallow squad where Nuno trusts a core of maybe 15 players. No suitable additions were available in January. A combination of prayer and good fortune has kept the squad ticking over for most of the season. The injection of Champions League cash would be an elixir of life for the club, allowing Nuno to add quality and depth. Three immense games await.

John: Scoring goals is what we are missing and lots of it.

Tom: Nottingham Forest B team winning the International Cup on Wednesday on penalties. Well done lads! As usual, no coverage, if a big six team had done it there would be at least three articles by now.

Sean: Nottingham Forest's B team winning the International Cup, beating Lyon on penalties with Zach Abbott scoring the decisive penalty. The future is bright.

The latest episode of The Shut Up And Show More Football podcast has landed.

BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray and David Jackson discuss the final three games of the season and catch up with Joe Worrall about Forest's under-21 players after they won the Premier League International Cup on Wednesday.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

When things start to go awry towards the end of the season, some players can let it affect them.

From a Nottingham Forest perspective, of all the teams that up there, they are probably the ones who have had to adjust their expectations the most as the season has progressed.

There may be some players who were more comfortable with the opening objectives of doing well in the league, not being involved in a relegation scrap and seeing how far up the table they can finish.

But now they are up against teams who at the start of the campaign built their squads around trying to qualify for Europe and the Champions League and with that comes a certain type of mentality.

Any recent slide Forest have had is all relative because, in the grand scheme of things, they have still had a very, very good season. While the toughness of this part of the season may affect one or two, in reality, it will always be led by the manager because he will be able to see who is being affected and who is not.

Dips in form happen to everyone, especially those teams that are fighting for Champions League places. Some have had really good times then indifferent spells. Everyone goes through it, but it is about how you get out the other side - having the right mentality, a healthy team and a bit of good fortune.

Whether it could be a blessing in disguise if Forest qualify for Europa League instead of Champions League is difficult to say.

Qualifying for the Champions League is something you always remember. The experience of it and then the financial benefits too. Maybe the Europa League would suit Forest in terms of having a better chance of winning it, but most players dream of playing in the Champions League.

And most clubs dream of having their club in the Champions League. If Forest can do that a year after being involved in a relegation dogfight, then I think they will do whatever they need to give themselves a chance of being competitive.

Being able to test yourself against the best in Europe is something I do not think any club would ever want to turn down.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Nottingham Forest remain in the fight for Champions League football but have spluttered in recent games.

We have heard plenty about Morgan Gibbs-White's form - and potential future - and the impact of the defensive stability this season.

But you know your club best so give us a peek behind the curtain. Let us know the one thing that no-one is talking about at Forest but really should be.

Tell us here

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

For more than a decade, those watching from the stands and through screens have been led to believe that possession-based football is the holy grail when pursuing success.

With Barcelona's tiki-taka and the tactics brought to the Premier League by Pep Guardiola, more and more teams have prioritised this 'easy on the eye' style of play.

And while it is hard to argue with the success of the La Liga giants and Manchester City's recent trophy-laden years, it is not something that works for everyone.

A number of teams have fallen foul of this obsession to build up play from the back and keep-ball over counter-attack.

But, it is a mould Nottingham Forest have been trying to break this season.

The Reds sit sixth in the table and just two points off a Champions League spot - this despite having the second-lowest average possession in the league so far this campaign (39.97%).

From relegation candidates to European place contenders in less than 12 months, they have built this progress, not on possession, but on a solid defence and ability to be clinical on the counter-attack.

The East Midlands side are joint-fourth for goals conceded (42) and sit only one place and one fewer than newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool for clean sheets (13).

There have been few occasions this term where Forest have been equal to or had more possession than their opponent.

Their draw at Crystal Palace on Monday night was one such occasion. Despite having more of the ball, they struggled to really create quality chances and, had Eberechi Eze's late effort dipped a couple of inches lower, they may have come away empty handed.

There have been 28 games in the league when Nuno Espirito Santo's side have had under 50% of the possession this season, of which they have gone on to win 15 - a win percentage of 54%.

In a much smaller sample size, there have been just seven occasions in which they have had 50% or more possession and from those they have won three games, giving them a win percentage of 43%.

While they understandably concede less per game when they have more of the ball (0.86 compared to 1.29), they do tend to score more when they have less possession (1.61 compared to 1.29 per game).

In fact, when looking at how they fared in the match they had least possession in this campaign, they scored three times in a win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In contrast, in the game where they had the ball the most - at home to Brentford - they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat.

When everyone else is trying to move more towards the possession-based grain, going against it could be what secures Forest European football for the first time in more than 40 years.

How do you feel about Forest's style of play?

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