There is no doubt that Nottingham Forest's 2014/2015 season has been one full of ups and downs that has left fans both elated and frustrated.

After a fantastic start to the season under club legend Stuart Pearce, a drastic dip in form saw Forest win just three out of 23 matches and eventually saw the man most believed to get Forest to the Premier League leave his position as manager.

A number of fans were questioning the chairman's decision to dismiss the 52 year old, whilst others were keen to see another change in management weeks before his eventual dismissal.

However, with Dougie Freedman now at the helm, a potentially exciting new era at Nottingham Forest has begun. With a previously underachieving squad, that is clearly full of quality, Freedman has managed to turn a corner over a number of games and is now mounting an unlikely push towards the play-offs with a handful of games left to play.

Or is this just another 'honeymoon period' that will end sooner rather than later? Only time will tell. Yet it is clear to the majority of Nottingham Forest fans that a number of players have stood out this season and for a promotion push in the 2015/2016 season, there are five players that Forest must try their upmost to retain, under significant financial restraints.

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1) Michail Antonio

Michail Antonio, signed last summer for a fee of around £1.5m, has become an integral part of a Nottingham Forest side that at times have produced some good attacking football. Antonio has performed consistently well, even during the horrendous run of form that led to the sacking of the manager who signed him. His raw pace and power has turned him into a defender's nightmare and for the majority of the season, he has been a joy to watch - particularly when he is playing in his preferred left wing position. Illustrated by a wonder goal against Bolton a few weeks ago in which he picked up the ball on the half way line, marauded past four opposition players and fired confidently into the top corner, he has certainly become a player that Forest fans have grown to love. Despite a noticeable weakness in backtracking to support Eric Lichaj at left-back, he has become arguably Forest's best player this season.

Antonio joined with the ambition to get promoted to the Premier League, and subsequent to interest from West Bromwich Albion, it is highly possible that Antonio will be playing in different colours next season. This is a further possibility due to the financial restrictions plaguing Nottingham Forest at the moment - the club remains highly in debt and selling one of the clubs most expensive assets would help in this respect - yet, to succeed next season, Michail Antonio would surely be crucial. Because of this, Antonio is top of my list of players that I would love to see playing in red again next season and I'm sure that most Nottingham Forest fans would agree. Whether this can become a reality, I'm not so sure.

2) Ben Osborn

Some managers are strongly supportive of a clubs youth system, some are not.

Thankfully in this respect, Stuart Pearce was the former and as a result was very keen to integrate Ben Osborn into Nottingham Forest's starting eleven. It has been hugely enjoyable to watch Ben Osborn grow into the player that he has become and it is an exciting thought to be able to watch him become even better next season. Not only has Osborn scored that crucial winning goal at Derby County and a wonder-goal against Reading, he has grown into a confident central midfielder that forms a crucial link between defence and attack.

It is precisely this quality in the centre of the park and his growing potential that places him on the list of players that Dougie Freedman and Fawaz Al Hasawi should strive to hold onto for next season. As of yet, there has been no significant advances to sign the youngster, but it wouldn't surprise me if clubs were knocking on the door soon if he continues to perform to his current high standards. Nonetheless, I believe he will be a key player for Forest next season. To me, the youth system at any football club should be celebrated, not neglected. Ben Osborn is a great example of this.

3) Britt Assombalonga

As Nottingham Forest's most expensive signing EVER, Britt Assombalonga came with bags of potential and high expectations amongst fans. There is no doubt that up until his agonising injury that has seen him sidelined for 12 months, he has delivered emphatically.

Scoring a total of 15 league goals in 29 games, Assombalonga has shown why he was worth around £5.5m last summer (especially since he has been playing a proportion of the season in an under-performing team who seemingly bombarded him with long balls every game).

After controversy around the payment for his services - adding more worries to the financial situation at Forest - his on the field performances have been less worrying. There are crucial weaknesses in his game, namely a lacking ability to hold the ball up to allow wingers to enter the attack, yet his goals have proved his clinically in front of goal and his great work ethic, making it ever more disappointing to see him injured for such a long time.

It is highly unlikely that many clubs will show a keen interest in the striker this summer due to his length absence from football, yet he may become a key player again for Forest when fully recovered and thus, must be retained in the next transfer window.

4) Henri Lansbury

Henri Lansbury has had a season of two halves at Nottingham Forest - the first half saw him regularly criticised for not playing to his potential, whilst the second half saw a drastic resurgence in form that has seen him score a number of quality goals and pick up the Championship Player of the Month Award for February 2015.

After a promising 2013/2014 campaign, Lansbury was the player that I looked forward to seeing the most this season and after several advances from Burnley, I feared that he would be leaving the club in the last summer transfer window. Despite this, signing a new contract in August 2014 was the news that most Forest fans had been waiting for, however, this seemed to be the beginning of a new Henri Lansbury that failed to live up to all the hype.

Thankfully, his performacnes over the last few months have been improving and we are now seeing the player that we wished for once again.

A crucial winning goal against high flyers Bournemouth and a sublime finish in the 3-0 win over Wigan has shown that Lansbury is a key player for Forest and as a result, has shown the importance of his commitment to the club.

5) Gary Gardner

As a loan signing from Aston Villa, alongside Forest's current transfer embargo meaning that incoming players must earn less than £10000 per week, it is almost a certainty that Gary Gardner won't be playing in Nottingham next season. However, watching the young defensive midfielder play for the last couple of months has made this inevitability extremely disappointing.

To me, he joined Forest as an unknown - I had no knowledge of his ability and/or potential, and whilst Aston Villa supporters rated him highly, I was fundamentally unsure what to expect. I believe I speak for most Nottingham Forest fans when I say that I have been impressed with his game.

Not only does he do the important job of sitting just in-front of the back four exceptionally well at this level, he conjures up some fantastic passing moves and has scored two absolute wonder goals (winning him the 'Sky Sports Goal of the Day' award two-weeks on the trot).

His attitude is exceptional too, a stark comparison from another loan signing this season, 'Tom Ince', who seemed rather lazy at Forest yet has excelled at Derby.

He approaches each game with enthusiasm and appears to enjoy playing for a club that he entered not long before the departure of the manager who encourage him to join in the first place. Because of this, I truly hope that I am proved wrong in my claim that he won't be playing for Nottingham Forest next season.