'A performance characterised by two of their biggest strengths'

After reaching the heady heights of third at the start of November, Nottingham Forest fans were given a reality check following back-to-back defeats by Newcastle and Arsenal.

While newly promoted Ipswich, at the City Ground, might have been viewed as the ideal opponent to get back to winning ways, there is no doubting the devil on Forest's shoulders whispering "another defeat, it's three on the spin, and everyone will quickly forget your good start".

Nuno Espirito Santo's side came through both the physical and mental test, with a performance once again characterised by two of their biggest strengths - the goalscoring form of Chris Wood and a much-needed return of a robust defensive display.

Wood thumped home his penalty, making it nine goals in 13 matches, reaching the tally seven appearances quicker than his previous best ever start to a Premier League season back in 2017. Rather than bask in all the praise coming his way, the modest Kiwi, who is out of contract next summer, explained to me afterwards this purple patch is entirely down to team-mates making his life "easy" by putting chances "on a plate".

When it comes to the defence, their improvement is a reminder of the importance a full pre-season has for any head coach.

Forest only kept four Premier League clean sheets in the whole of the 2023-24 campaign, with just one of those coming after Nuno's appointment in late December.

Following a summer of work, combined with the shrewd recruitment of Nikola Milenkovic to partner Murillo, they have already stopped the opposition from scoring five times in 13 games.

With the 'curse' of Premier League manager and player of the month put to bed at the weekend, Forest head to an out-of-sorts Manchester City on Wednesday (19:30 GMT) with only Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer enjoying a better 2024 than Wood in front of goal and the second best defensive record in the division.