Nottingham Forest head into Friday's trip to Ipswich Town languishing in the Premier League's relegation zone after suffering three consecutive defeats. Following a narrow 1-0 loss to champions Arsenal, where a strike from Madueke proved decisive, Forest have now lost five of their opening eight fixtures across all competitions. Despite the difficult opening sequence, manager Oliver Glasner remains determined to stay positive, stating: "It feels unfair but I don't want to be complaining and feeling as victims."
Glasner's preferred team sheet is beginning to take shape, with Matz Sels, Neco Williams, Murillo, Dan Ndoye, and James McAtee having started every Premier League encounter, while Morgan Gibbs-White missed out on Sunday due to a muscle injury. In contrast, club captain Ryan Yates is yet to play a single minute, Ibrahim Sangare has started only once since signing a three-year summer deal, Callum Hudson-Odoi has seen limited action, and Ola Aina has lost his place to new wing-back Daniel Munoz. Backing the Austrian manager's transition, defender Murillo said: "We have a good manager and I think we are still getting his ideas. We changed everything in our system this season. It is difficult but after three or four months we keep improving and I think we are close to reaching our best."
Internal belief in Glasner remains intact, with the 52-year-old having already discussed his history of slow starts with ambitious owner Evangelos Marinakis. Glasner, who arrived after lifting the FA Cup, Community Shield, and Conference League at Crystal Palace, has maintained he is "not a magician." His opening full season at Palace in 2024-25 began without a win in his first eight matches before ending with an FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City to end a 119-year trophy drought. Forest hierarchy are keen for stability, following previous short-lived spells under Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche, and Vitor Pereira over the past year.
Forest's primary obstacle remains their league-worst 4.17% conversion rate and a division-lowest -6.20 xG. While they have registered 120 shots this season—behind only Manchester United and Brighton—only 25 have been on target, leaving them without a home league goal for eight hours and 26 minutes. Summer signing Rory Delap, who arrived for £50m, saw a stoppage-time attempt denied by Ezri Konsa's block against Arsenal, yet Glasner insists unity will turn their form around. "We are the only ones who can change it," Glasner said. "I told the players this is a tough moment and in tough moments in life there's just one way to go through it, you need your family, you need your friends and you need to stick together and stay positive. I'm very convinced that we will do this because I know the players and all the character of the players then we will get these scores, we will get the results."