Former England and Everton manager Sam Allardyce has suggested that Nottingham Forest could need to back Chris Hughton in the transfer market to address the lack of goal threat in the side at the moment.

Forest suffered their latest blow on Saturday, losing 2-0 at promotion-chasing Reading which saw them fail to win or score a single goal in their last five Championship matches. That is something that Hughton must address swiftly if he is going to be able to turn things around on the field and get them heading back in the right direction.

Hughton’s side are missing the presence of last season’s go-to man Lewis Grabban, but they would have been hoping for more from summer signing Lyle Taylor who has yet to get going at the City Ground after an impressive campaign at Charlton Athletic last term.

Quiz: Which club did Nottingham Forest sign each of these 25 players from?

Speaking on EFL on Quest, Allardyce suggested that Forest must back Hughton in the market in January to help him bring in some more attacking players and address other areas of the squad that might need sorting. However, he did back the former Brighton boss to turn things around and keep them clear of relegation.

He said: “That’s a massive problem (lack of goals) for Chris and he’ll obviously have to try and address that when the next window comes around. If Forest don’t address that it’s going to be a very difficult season and they’ll stay down there at the bottom end of that table where they don’t want to be.

“Chris is a more than capable manager he’s proven that over the years and has gone and taken Brighton into the Premier League and put Newcastle back in the Premier League down in the Championship.

“So if the players are not good enough he has to make that decision he has to tell the board and they have to change it and change quickly. If he thinks they’re good enough and they work Chris’ way then they’ll get out of trouble this year, but I don’t think there’s any aspirations of getting anywhere near the play-offs.”

The Verdict

Hughton is a manager with plenty of experience and pedigree in the Championship as Allardyce suggests, and it would be a surprise if he was not able to turn things around for the Reds and get them heading back in the right direction. However, given Forest’s past record with hiring and firing managers, he needs to start doing that very soon.

Forest’s major issue at the moment is in the final third and Hughton’s side are suffering from a lack of creativity and also confidence going forwards. That is something that must be the priority in the January window with a creative midfielder needed, as well as maybe another forward.

As Allardyce suggested, any hopes of a potential unlikely play-off push are now probably over, and the focus this term needs to be on ensuring that they at least get out of trouble. Hughton should be able to achieve that but how far he can improve them will depend on their business in January.