Hard to predict the nature of Forest's season

It would be futile to start second-guessing Nottingham Forest's season.

This time last year - going into a campaign in which they were tipped for relegation - Forest officials agreed a season of anonymity and a mid-table finish would have been progress.

They ended up qualifying for Europe for the first time in 30 years, meaning predictions for this year at the City Ground would be useless.

The Morgan Gibbs-White summer saga after Tottenham Hotspur's approach and Forest's subsequent legal considerations - which ended with the midfielder staying at the City Ground - shows the club are not here to be pushed around.

They want to be among the elite and losing their best player to a rival for Europe - Tottenham would be expected to improve on last season's 17th - is not the way to remain there.

Of course, Anthony Elanga did leave for Newcastle United - with Dan Ndoye joining from Bologna as a replacement - but fears Forest would be stripped of all their best talent have been unfounded.

Instead, they go into the season with more optimism than some may have expected, despite running out of steam in the final seven games, which eventually denied them a Champions League spot.

Burnout could have been a factor, and Forest used 23 players last season, a league low, and with a Europa League campaign to consider more rotation is needed, while Igor Jesus, a £10m signing from Botafogo, will hopefully ease the goalscoring burden off Chris Wood.

Elliot Anderson also excelled in the summer as the England Under-21s won the European Championship and will be expected to continue his form into this season.