Faltering and flat Forest need to adapt - and get to grips with being in a scrap

THREE DEFEATS ON SPIN LEAVE REDS FOUR POINTS ABOVE DROP AND IN NEED OF MORE IN-GAME OPTIONS TO CREATE 'KILLER MOMENTS' IN FRONT OF GOAL

- By SARAH CLAPSON

A YEAR that started with such promise and potential ends with nerves and no shortage of frustration for Nottingham Forest.

Twelve months ago, the Reds headed into 2025 in the midst of a seven-match winning streak. At that moment, anything seemed possible. An unlikely title push? Champions League? Any kind of Europe? A cup run? It was as if Forest had the world at their feet; that was the beauty of it. There was a thrill and an excitement about what might be achieved.

Turning the page on the calendar this time around, however, comes with a sense of trepidation. The anxious chatter is all about something else entirely.

Conversations Trentside are dominated by one particular theme, and it is one the club hoped they had moved on from. Surely it will not happen. Surely. Will it?

After three straight defeats, Sean Dyche's side are precariously placed in the Premier League table going into the new year. They sit just above the relegation spots.

Tuesday night's dismal showing as Everton triumphed 2-0 heightened the sense of unease around the City Ground. Below, we look at some of the big talking points from the game.

THE WRONG PLAN

Twice in the space of a matter of weeks Forest have been well beaten by the Toffees. They were poor in a 3-0 dismantling on Merseyside at the beginning of December, and the offering was just as miserable when the teams met again.

On both occasions, it was a bruising reunion with his former club for Dyche. By the end of this one, the visiting fans taunted him with chants about being 'sacked in the morning'.