Kenny Burns has criticised Sabri Lamouchi's team selection after the 2-2 draw with Millwall on Friday night.
The Frenchman made three changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Cardiff the weekend before, as they switched from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 5-4-1 set-up.
The likes of Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho - two of Forest's most creative players - were dropped from the starting line-up, as the Reds failed to perform like their usual selves.
The change that got most Forest fans talking was Rafa Mir coming in to replace top goalscorer Lewis Grabban.
Grabban replaced Mir on the hour mark, and scored two goals in quick succession to help Forest take an unlikely lead on the night, as Mir produced another toothless display up top.
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Speaking in his latest Nottinghamshire Live column, Burns has criticised Lamouchi for his team selection against the Lions, urging him to play his best players whenever they are available to him.
He said: "I’m struggling to see why Sabri Lamouchi thought it would be a good idea to change his Nottingham Forest team at Millwall, of all places.
"He tried it at Wigan and it backfired massively, taking out Lewis Grabban and playing Rafa Mir. It was clear then that one or two players that he gave chances to were not good enough to grasp it and so he thought he’d give them another chance on Friday night.
"Not at Millwall, though, that was an error and he admitted as much after the game. I don’t care what anyone says, if you’ve got your best players available to you then play them.
"Don’t mess about, because in this division one defeat can be so costly and then one defeat becomes two and so on."
Forest return to league action with a clash against Middlesbrough at the City Ground on Tuesday night - the Reds have won one of their last four matches, and will be desperate to pick up three points against Jonathan Woodgate's side.
The likes of Lewis Grabban and Joe Lolley are expected to return to the starting line-up, as they go in search of their 1oth league win of the season.
The Verdict
It was a massive risk to make that many changes and play a somewhat weakened team against Millwall on Friday, and on another night, it could have punished them.
It didn't work against Wigan in October and there seemed to be a real lack of cohesion between the players, which told as they fell to a 1-0 defeat.
You can perhaps see why he made those changes, given that they have three tough games in the space of eight days this week.