Garry Birtles believes that Nottingham Forest have become too predictable to play against after their 4-0 thrashing at home to Sheffield Wednesday last time out.

The Reds were battered at the City Ground by Garry Monk's men, with all four goals scored in the first half. The result saw Forest drop out of the top six in their quest to win promotion.

Even though Birtles acknowledged boss Sabri Lamouchi has done a good job since taking over, the side are now four games without a win and the European Cup winner told Nottinghamshire Live the major issue he feels the team now have.

"My big concern about Forest now is that they have become predictable. They have only really played one way with one formation under Lamouchi.

"Forest's game has been based on the counter attack and they aren't really creating a huge amount of chances. It was inevitable they would struggle at some point if they were one dimensional. That is especially the case at home."

Lamouchi's men will look to move back into the top six with a victory at Huddersfield this weekend.

The verdict

You have to say that Birtles has a point here because Forest are struggling when they have to break down a deep defence and there's no doubting that they excel on the counter.

Obviously, they need to be able to adapt but you have to give Lamouchi time to get things right and he may not feel he has the personnel to play a different way.

It will be interesting to see what tweaks are made in January to help Forest become a better all-round team and it should be said they are still a good team that are capable of competing for promotion.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.