Nottingham Forest head coach Aitor Karanka hopes that his side will “excite” him throughout this season’s Championship campaign.

In an interview with the Nottingham Post, Karanka laid out his intentions, expectations and hopes for the coming season.

Karanka stated: “I want to excite myself, because when we go to the pitch and we trust in the things we are doing on the training ground, you can feel that we are a very good team.”

The Tricky Trees have enjoyed good preseason results having beaten the likes of Spanish side Malaga and Premier League outlet Bournemouth, both without conceding a goal.

The Spanish manager continued: ““But this game was against Bournemouth and the Championship is different. We have to keep going, we have to keep playing as well as we can. We know we have the players here now, to play in that way.”

“I am really pleased, because we cannot forget that we have been working together for only four weeks. It has been really important, the work the club has been doing since the last season finished.”

Forest have been busy in this summer’s transfer market, making multiple additions to their squad, with the likes of Michael Dawson, Gil Dias, Lewis Grabban, Costil Pantilimon, Diogo Goncalves and Joao Carvalho all joining the ranks at the City Ground.

Karanka stated: “Because it was important to start the pre-season together. Players like Grabban, Pantilimon and Colback arrived just a little bit later. But at least we knew that they were coming and they know how important this season is for everyone.

“I am really pleased because, while we have not really started anything yet, I am really positive about what is to come.”

The Verdict

Nottingham Forest have potential to be slight underdogs going into this season, following their disappointing campaign last time out.

But with the additions to their squad, Aitor Karanka’s side look strong in preseason, and have picked up some big wins along the way.

Perhaps the Tricky Trees might just be a force to be reckoned with this season.