After a mixed start to his time in charge of Nottingham Forest, Chris Hughton is likely to already be casting one eye on the January transfer window.

The 61-year-old arrived at the City Ground in October, and was immediately given the task of getting to grips with his new group of players - all 30 of them undoubtedly eager to make an impression.

It has been a steady start to life in charge of the Reds for Hughton. From his first nine games at the helm, Forest have won three, drawn three and lost three.

Within a hectic winter schedule, Hughton is bound to have learnt a lot about his squad, and will be keen to further reshape and strengthen his squad come January.

Here, we take a look at three mistakes Forest cannot afford to make in the January transfer window, after a few eye-catching transfer windows in recent years...

Leave deals until the last minute

Forest were dealt a cruel blow in the latter stages of what was a hectic summer transfer window for the club.

After bringing in Anthony Knockaert on loan from Fulham on Deadline Day, the aim was to also bring in Kamil Grosicki from West Bromwich Albion.

After submitting the relevant paperwork to the EFL only 21 seconds after the transfer deadline, Forest missed out on the winger, with the authorities blocking the move.

The failure to bring in Grosicki has left Forest somewhat short of out-and-out, left-sided options out wide.

What Forest cannot afford to do is leave any deals until the last minute, because it could come back to haunt them.

Sell key players

Whilst Forest need to bid farewell to a number of fringe players and trim the squad, their key players need to be retained.

Last season's top goalscorer, Lewis Grabban, recently attracted interest from Sabri Lamouchi's Al-Duhail, and it remains to be seen whether that interest resurfaces in January.

Regardless of how Grabban has performed this season, losing a striker, in this instance, would leave Forest very light up top, and would weaken the squad.

Joe Worrall was another player to attract interest from the Premier League in the summer, so it's crucial that Forest don't allow other clubs to take advantage of their plight.

Forest need to strengthen and improve as a collective unit. This can't be achieved by allowing some of their best players to leave.

Don't overly congest one area of the pitch

As alluded to before, Forest endured a rather hectic summer transfer window.

14 new players arrived, adding to a squad now consisting of over 30 first-teamers, with plenty of competition for places at the City Ground.

The truth is, the balance of the squad is completely wrong. Forest have six central midfielders on the books, all of whom can play in the same position and are fighting for two spots.

They have three right-backs, three left-backs, three goalkeepers, seven centre-halves, and yet only two out-and-out strikers with Miguel Guerrero establishing himself as a number 10.

Hughton will look to shift the deadwood and trim the squad in January, but unlike in previous windows, it's important that he doesn't add to his squad unnecessarily and congest a certain area of the pitch.