Nottingham Forest have kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 0-0 draw at Chesterfield.
The Reds went to the League Two outfit with a pretty inexperienced team, with a number of first-team players not yet back in training after being given an extended summer following international duty.
The likes of Ola Aina, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo, Willy Boly, Jota Silva and Ryan Yates all got invaluable minutes with some of the club’s shining young talents getting on the pitch in the second half.
Forest will look to sign at least four new players this summer, with Morgan Gibbs-White looking likely to sign for Tottenham at some point in the next week as a deal looks set to be thrashed out between the clubs.
Nuno Espírito Santo looks on during Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Two Nottingham Forest players now surely on borrowed time
Some players who were present at Chesterfield clearly won’t have a part to play for Forest once the Premier League campaign gets underway.
Lewis O’Brien has been linked with Wrexham, whilst David Carmo and Marko Stamenic could both go out on loan once again.
For two players still on the books at the City Ground, however, the writing is now surely on the wall after Nuno Espirito Santo overlooked them for this contest.
Emmanuel Dennis finished last season on loan at Blackburn, and he was nowhere to be seen when the Forest team bus arrived in Derbyshire for the first pre-season contest.
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Another player who was nowhere to be seen was Josh Bowler. He’s never made a single competitive appearance for Forest, with Steve Cooper pushing for his signature back in the summer of 2022.
Bowler and Dennis both did well in the friendly with Chesterfield last year but now it would appear that they’re firmly in the bomb squad as the club goes in search of possible suitors to take them ahead of the new season.
Forest need new signings before the season starts
Although Espirito Santo likes to work with a smaller squad, it’s important that the club continues working hard to bring new faces to the football club this summer.
Anthony Elanga has already joined Newcastle, and with Gibbs-White set to depart too, it looks like a nervy time for the fan base to contend with.
Yesterday, the Reds went to Chesterfield with a very experimental outfit and once the pre-season programme gets into full swing, Forest will look to welcome back more of the senior players.
For Bowler and Dennis, the writing looks to be firmly on the wall and the hope will be that both players can get hooked up with new clubs before the end of the window.