NEW SIGNING NDOYE STRAIGHT INTO FRAY

NOTTINGHAM Forest went a fifth preseason game without a victory as they fell 1-0 to Birmingham City in the West Midlands.

- By SARAH CLAPSON

Nuno Espirito Santo named a strong starting XI for his team’s fifth run-out of the summer, with new signing Dan Ndoye thrown straight into the fray. But the visitors struggled to get going in the early stages of the Trevor Francis Memorial Match.

By contrast, their opponents looked sharp and caused the Reds a few problems. Shortly after going close with a driven effort across the face, Jay Stansfield opened the scoring for the Blues in the 22nd minute when he punished some poor Forest defending.

It took until just past the half-hour mark for the Reds to register their first meaningful effort at goal. Ndoye hit the bar with a fierce strike from a tight angle after good interplay between Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White.

The latter had an opportunity of his own shortly after the interval but Ryan Allsop was equal to his effort from outside the area. Likewise, Chris Wood was unable to get the better of the Blues goalkeeper in the final minutes as his tame strike was comfortably gathered.