The Nottingham Forest supporters have not endured the happiest of campaigns over the past few seasons, and many of the club’s faithful will be hoping for a more successful season during 2016/17.
The Reds, riddled with a transfer embargo, finished in a miserable 16th place in the Sky Bet Championship last season but with the embargo now lifted, the club’s supporters will expect their team to perform much better next time around.
Britt Assombalonga missed the majority of last season with a serious knee injury and his return alone should instantly boost Forest in front of goal, with the club scoring an embarrassing 43 goals from their 46 games last season without their influential talisman.
The club will undoubtedly look to bolster their attacking arsenal during the summer months with some competition for the ex-Peterborough United man a must.
Football League World writer Lee Clarke took a look at THREE former Forest strikers who would have made brilliant strike partners for Assombalonga, during their pomp.....
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE THREE STRIKERS!
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Bryan Roy
The little Dutch wizard was a maestro with a football at his feet and worked superbly well in tandem with Stan Collymore.
Forest finished third in the Premier League during Roy’s first season at the City Ground and with Assombalonga a similar sort of player to Collymore, it is only natural to think that Roy would work perfectly well with Forest’s current number nine.
Roy scored 24 goals in 85 appearances during his time with Forest and built up a reputation as a real fan favourite during his three-year spell.
Now 46-years-old, Roy was capped 32 times by his native Holland and netted nine goals on the international stage.
David Johnson
Johnson was impeccable for the Reds during the 2002/03 campaign and fired the Reds into the play-offs with a 29-goal haul.
Johnson was a real nuisance in and around the box, and he showed in that one season what had tempted Forest into paying Ipswich Town £3.5 million for his services in the first place.
It wasn’t always sweetness and light for the striker at Forest and after initially struggling to make an impact, he was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley to try and rediscover some form.
Following his glittering season in a red shirt he had some rotten luck on the injury front and departed the City Ground in 2007, with Johnson retiring from full-time football.
Robert Earnshaw
The little Welshman was a real gem of a signing for Nottingham Forest and his genuine dislike for Derby County went down a treat with the club’s supporters.
Earnshaw was signed for £2.5 million from the Rams having been part of their squad who collected just 11 points during the 2007/08 campaign – the lowest points total since the Premier League formed in 1992.
Earnshaw would buzz around and do all the donkey work for Assombalonga making them a troublesome partnership for opposition defenders.
The striker netted some vitally important goals during his time at the City Ground and he ranks highly with the City Ground faithful.