Three straight defeats have left Nottingham Forest's hopes of making the Championship play-offs this season hanging by a thread.

It has been a frustrating few weeks for fans of the club, after a series of disappointing performances have seen the team fall eight points outside the top six, with just four matches to play.

Forest were booed off the pitch at the City Ground on Saturday, after the 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers and manager Martin O'Neill has come under fire from supporters, with some calling for him to be sacked.

There is no denying that it has been a difficult few weeks for the Championship club and a season which once promised much now looks almost certain to end in disappointment.

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However, it should be remembered the the club have battled against relegation the last few years, so to be challenging for the play-offs for most of the season shows that progress has been made.

Fans at the City Ground have got to be patient and those calling for O'Neill to be sacked should be reminded that he is an extremely experienced manager who has been able to achieve success almost everywhere he has been.

There is no reason why he cannot achieve success at Forest too, just as he did as a player, but he needs to be given proper time to build.

When O'Neill took charge at the City Ground in January, replacing Aitor Karanka, he became the club's eleventh manager since June 2011.

That alone shows how desperate the club are to achieve success, but the board need to exercise some patience, rather than continue to chop and change as they have done for a number of years.

There would be no point whatsoever in sacking O'Neill just 14 matches into his reign and before he has even had a proper transfer window to assemble his own squad.

Forest fans have witnessed some disappointing and underwhelming performances from their players over the last few weeks and there is no doubt that O'Neill needs to strengthen his squad in the transfer market this summer.

The Reds boss will already have an idea of potential signings, what areas need strengthening and what players should be allowed to leave, ahead of what is an important summer for the club.

Until then, O'Neill and his players have just four games left to finish the season on a high.