Nottingham Forest's 2-0 home defeat to Hull City on Saturday - their second defeat to the Tigers in 2018 across all competitions - means it is now one win in their last ten league matches for Aitor Karanka's men.

That run stretches back to the reign of Karanka's predecessor Mark Warburton but it must also worry the former Boro manager that his side have now failed to score in seven of their last eight league games as well.

It is well known that Karanka likes to build his side on a solid foundation but we saw last season that can come at the cost of an attacking threat when Boro's anemic attack failed to make an impression in the Premier League and ended up being relegated.

He issued a message to the Forest fans who might be beginning to worry, that his side, packed to the brim with new signings will improve over time.

He told the Nottingham Post: "I can understand the fans wanting to see us change a lot of things but this is a long race. This is a step-by-step process. This is a difficult moment, but I am still confident about the future.

"I train with the players every day and we cannot forget that many of the ten have not been playing recently and I could not bring in all ten. In this league you need players to be really, really fit on the pitch.

"With two or three weeks of training at our intensity and with their personality and experience, for sure they will help us."

The Verdict

Karanka brought in lots and lots of players at Boro but oversaw a team who failed to score too often and so far he is following the exact same blueprint at Forest.

Of course there is plenty of time for him to get things right - realistically he just wants to keep the team in the Championship this season and build from there - but the early signs are not good.

Forest fans - what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below...