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da 888： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Former Forest man and now EFL pundit David Prutton believes the east Midlands club can mount a serious playoff charge this season, speaking to Nottingham Post.
What’s he said?
The Reds are enjoying life under Sabri Lamouchi, who was only appointed at the end of June when Martin O’Neill surprisingly received the axe on the same day.
They sit tenth in the Championship and have gone unbeaten in their last six matches following a disappointing opening day defeat to local rivals West Brom.
Last weekend’s result against Swansea City certainly put the rest of the league on notice as they knocked the Welsh outfit off the top spot by snatching a late winner at the Liberty Stadium.
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Alfa Semedo tapped home a Lewis Grabban cross in the 85th minute to hand Forest a 1-0 away victory, which was all the more impressive as they kept a clean sheet against the side that, at the time, were the league’s highest scorers.
That result in some ways backs up Prutton’s point as he claims that the league is so competitive this year that no team will run away with it.
He said:
“It looks a pretty even league. No one looks like they can run away with it.
“It’s well balanced. Forest are well placed to push on. It won’t be lost on their fans that Derby haven’t made a good start in comparison.”
Serious contenders
The last time Forest were in the top-flight was actually Prutton’s first year as a professional footballer, even though he did not make an appearance that season.
That was some 11 years ago.
After the start they’ve had and given the arguable doubts over the random nature of Lamouchi’s appointment, they could well be a dark horse in the Championship this season.
The 47-year-old manager has chopped and changed his side on multiple occasions, utilising no more than 20 players already this season, and has needed to ride some luck to pick up a point here and there – but all the signs are there to suggest they can be serious contenders.
Just four points split them from the joint-leaders, Leeds United and Swansea, which suggests that Prutton does indeed have a point that no team is likely to run away with it.
It’s still early days, and even though Lewis Grabban has got off to a hot start scoring four goals, the likes of Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho are yet to even get going.
Lolley registered 11 assists and just as many goals last term while the Portuguese playmaker has had to battle injury.