Aitor Karanka has admitted that he expected to find lots of similarities between his promotion-winning Middlesbrough side and the squad he inherited at Nottingham Forest but has soon found out the differences.

 

That includes building a squad of capable players but also building confidence off the pitch because their shot shy attack can't be inspiring much faith from the fans right now.

At the other end, things aren't much better as Karanka, known for the defensive solidity of his teams, has only overseen one clean sheet during his time at Forest so far.

He told the Nottingham Post: "I thought I had seen a lot of similarities when I first came here but after two or three weeks, I could see that there were a lot of differences.

"At Middlesbrough I did not need to bring in ten players and, at home, we were very strong from the first game. Now here, it is different so we have changed a lot of players and I need to keep all of them confident.

"There is a lack of confidence and we are here to give that confidence back to the players again. I am here to change things."

The Verdict

This always looked a big job for Karanka and I feel it will take him until the end of the season to get the measure of it as well as his new squad and all the January arrivals.

They need to improve on this poor run of form at both ends of the pitch to ensure survival is accomplished with minimum fuss and then build for next season.

With a full pre-season and fewer comings and goings, Karanka should have a strong squad and be able to make a go of a play-off push next season but he has a lot to sort out as it stands.

Forest fans - what do you make of Karanka's comments? Let us know below...