Nottingham Forest returned from their pre-season camp in Portugal to play Birmingham City, in a game that finished 1-0 to the hosts.
It was an exciting week to be a Red as Dan Ndoye joined from Bologna for £34m, with Nuno Espírito Santo immediately throwing the Swiss star into the starting line-up.
However, there was an immediate concern when the squad was announced, as Ola Aina was absent from the Birmingham game, but reports confirming that he’d sustained a minor knock eased the worry.
Unfortunately, the result was another disappointing one in pre-season, but there were a number of positive points that the Forest manager will have taken from Saturday’s game.
Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty ImagesWhat we learned from Birmingham City vs Nottingham ForestIgor Jesus will push Chris Wood for a starting spot
Having featured alongside Chris Wood in Portugal, Igor Jesus was given the nod to start as a lone striker against Birmingham and showed exactly what he can offer as an alternative.
Jesus has impressed in training and he looked to have taken that into the game on Saturday, producing an all-action half of football where his ability to drop in and link up with his teammates stood out in particular.
Most impressive was his combination with Morgan Gibbs-White, with one neat flick leading to a chance for Ndoye to score in the opening period.
Morgan Gibbs-White must become a goalscoring threat
Jesus’ combination play must’ve been particularly intriguing for Gibbs-White, with the Brazilian’s abilities surely able to create more goalscoring opportunities for the Englishman.
However, in the Birmingham game, he didn’t quite look capable of taking these opportunities, something he’ll need to work on for the benefit of Forest, but also for his England career.
A statement of intent from our owner Evangelos Marinakis, as Morgan Gibbs-White signs a record deal at the Club until the summer of 2028. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/WhvuhecdhI
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) July 26, 2025
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The 25-year-old scored seven Premier League goals last season, but if he wants to nail down a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, he’ll ideally need to up these numbers into double figures and beyond.
Ibrahim Sangare will be key this season
Forest made a raft of changes after 70 minutes, but Sangare was asked to play the full game against Birmingham, given the continued absence of Nicolas Dominguez.
Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images
The full 90 minutes gave Sangare the chance to show his class against a side only six days away from the start of their competitive season, looking a level above the rest of the midfielders.
It’s clear that Forest are pushing to sign Douglas Luiz to provide extra quality to the central area, but the incoming Brazilian will have a difficult task in replacing the Ivorian, who has been one of the standouts in pre-season.
Full-back remains an area of concern
It was Morato and Jair Cunha who started the match at full-back for Forest, a clear indication, if one was needed, that the Reds are desperate for reinforcements in defence.
Predictably, neither provided an attacking threat, and when Eric da Silva Moreira and Omar Richards were brought on as more natural options, they also didn’t stake a claim for a regular position in the squad.
The Forest manager will, of course, like a settled starting XI, but Aina and Neco Williams simply cannot be expected to play every minute both domestically and in Europe, so back-ups must be found.
Forest will have to work on winning with possession
Espírito Santo wants Forest to control possession more this season, but judging by the evidence of Saturday, this transition away from counter-attacking football will take some getting used to.
Birmingham were more than happy to allow the Reds to dominate the possession for extended periods, but the Premier League side were unable to truly pick apart their opponents, with Forest’s best chance of the second half coming from a transition.
For this emphasis on possession to work, Nuno will need the creativity of the likes of Gibbs-White to help move the ball quicker, while Ndoye and Hudson-Odoi on the flanks will have to be clever with their movement to create gaps in the opposition defence.
The worst-case scenario for Forest would be that teams become comfortable with them having the ball, rather than being concerned about what they could do with it.