Nottingham Forest made it three wins from three in pre-season last night, defeating Northampton Town 2-0 at Sixfields.

The Reds' preparations for the forthcoming campaign are going relatively well despite a lack of transfer activity off the pitch, and they recorded their latest pre-season win last night.

A strong side, consisting of the likes of Joe Worrall, Scott McKenna and Lewis Grabban took to the field in the first half, but it took until the second half for the Reds to find their groove.

Four minutes into the second half, substitute Lyle Taylor scored with his first touch, capitalising from a goalkeeping mistake to slide the ball into an empty net.

The Reds doubled their lead later on, with Cafu rifling a powerful effort low into the bottom corner to make it 2-0, before the full-time whistle eventually blew.

Here, we dissect the performance and talk about three things we clearly learnt about Forest in their latest pre-season win...

Taylor makes his mark

It has been a disappointing spell on Trentside thus far for Lyle Taylor, who struggled for regular minutes last term.

But the striker made an immediate impact in his first pre-season outing yesterday, scoring with his first touch.

The striker showed good awareness to latch onto Jordan Gabriel's low cross before harrying the defender and goalkeeper and sliding the ball into an empty net.

That goal won't automatically make him become Forest's first-choice striker, but it's a good way to start and he will be hoping to kick on now.

Alex Mighten continues to shine

Mighten has undoubtedly been Forest's standout performer of pre-season so far.

The young winger has had plenty of game time under his belt against Alfreton, Port Vale and now Northampton, and very nearly scored his second goal of pre-season last night.

Mighten is at his most dangerous driving inside from the left and shifting the ball onto his right foot, and he almost found the top corner with a powerful effort which was kept out well by the goalkeeper.

Physically, he looks a lot stronger too, and you get the feeling that he is only going to get better going forward.

Carvalho debate rumbles on

Carvalho played a full 90 minutes for the Reds last night as Chris Hughton continues to mull over the Portuguese playmaker.

On the whole, Carvalho had a decent game. The midfielder rarely gave the ball away and kept play ticking with some careful, precise passes.

The midfielder also showed plenty of work-rate and desire to get into positions where he is able to receive the ball, but his willingness to do also meant that he found himself out of position sometimes.

His final pass, however, was lacking. A moment in the second half saw Forest break with speed, with Carvalho leading the attack and Mighten to his left.

A poor pass to Mighten resulted in Northampton dispossessing them with ease, though, when a simple ball was on.

But the most pleasing aspect from a Forest perspective is that Hughton is giving Carvalho a very fair chance to impress, and Carvalho is showing positive signs ahead of the new season.