Prolific Genk striker Nikos Karelis was reportedly on Nottingham Forest’s radar – and Mark Warburton will wish the club had signed him.
Nottingham Forest supporters may scoff at the suggestion that any positives can be taken out of a second 1-0 defeat in three days that leaves them just a point above the Championship relegation zone.
Yet, the infuriating truth is that Forest were by far the better side in their narrow loss to Cardiff City on Monday. They accumulated 61 per cent possession in South Wales and mustered 23 shots on goal.
However, the fact that just one hit the target says all you need to know about why Mark Warburton’s side failed to snatch at least one vital point in an increasingly worrying relegation dogfight.
This was the third time in six games under Warburton that Forest failed to score. Even in the 1-1 draw with Preston North End, the East Midlands giants made more than enough chances and failed to kill off the game.
It may sound a little too simplistic but the overriding feeling is that, if Forest could call upon an in-form goalscorer, their position would not be so precarious.
Therefore, you wonder how different life might have been had they managed to secure the services of Nikos Karelis in the summer. The Daily Mail reported that the £6 million-rated Genk striker was on the club’s radar after netting 10 in 18 games in Belgium last season.
And though currently sidelined with a serious injury, Karelis has maintained his prolific purple patch this season, rattling home 18 in 32 games before the turn of the year.
By contract, the top scorer in Forest’s squad, Britt Assombalonga, has just ten and is currently on a run of one goal in 12 games. If one of their multiple chances against Cardiff had fallen to Karelis, Warburton could at least be toasting a point.
As it stands, however, Forest’s blunt attack is contributing as heavily to their struggles as their leaky defence.
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