Nottingham Forest’s unbeaten start to the new season came to an end with defeat to Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

In truth, their unbeaten run was more a winless run, having not won a match in three attempts, since their only three points of the season against Reading last month.

It has been a start that included four draws prior to the international break, with Forest sitting 14th in the Championship table with seven points.

Much was expected from Aitor Karanka’s men having made 13 signings during the permanent transfer and loan windows, but fans are still waiting for it all to mesh together in what has been a fractured opening to the campaign.

The two-week hiatus comes at a good time for the club who will look to regroup and help embed the new players further before a trip to Swansea when the league restarts.

There has been a lot learnt and a fair bit that still needs to be figured out by the Forest boss once the league starts up again in two weeks’ time.

With that said, here are three things Karanka will have learned about his Nottingham Forest side so far this season.

As with signing any player you need to fit them into your team once they have shown they deserve it.

Having signed 13, however, Aitor Karanka has only named the same starting XI twice in Nottingham Forest’s first six games.

Continuity is key and chopping and changing personnel on a game to game basis is not conducive to getting any cohesion going.

What Karanka has learnt is that he does not know his best XI, and that is something he will need to get to grips with during this international break.

Matty Cash has impressed during his League Cup appearance, scoring late goals to ensure Forest progress to the next round in each of the last two cup ties. 

His cup form has translated into the league scoring in the 2-1 defeat to Brentford at the weekend.

Forest’s current top scorer, with four goals, is showing that despite the plethora of new signings, he is going to be a key member of Aitor Karanka’s side this season.

Danny Fox is a left-back by trade but has been brought inside to captain the club in a centre-back position.

And that has been a masterstroke by Aitor Karanka.

Fox is playing exceptionally well in the heart of the Nottingham Forest defence averaging 8.7 clearances per game.

This is something Karanka has experimented with, but it has paid dividends so far this season.

Forest have only conceded eight times a record that is joint fifth best in the division.