Nottingham Forest's relegation woes could deepen this weekend in the Championship, if their result against Preston North End doesn't result in a win for new manager Mark Warburton.

The Reds are balancing perilously close to the bottom of the Championship trap-door and know if they lose and Blackburn win, they could drop down into the bottom-three with just a handful of games left to play.

It's been a season of real disappointment in the East Midlands for the Reds, who, on paper, had a squad that was more than capable of finishing in the top half of the table, possibly even higher.

But as the campaign has gotten older, it's been clear there are certain players within the Reds ranks that just haven't been good enough in the slightest.

And that's why, as a supporter, it's easier to look at the past and some of the club's other big stars in hope that the form will eventually return.

That's why in this article, we want to look at the Forest players that were moved on far too early by club chiefs.

So with that in mind, here's the FIVE players Nottingham Forest were certainly too quick to sell...

Oliver Burke

Tipped as the next "Gareth Bale" of Scottish football, for years, we haven't seen hype surrounding an individual like we did when Forest winger Oliver Burke moved to Leipzig last summer.

The 19-year-old winger was writing headline after headline in England and was quickly becoming a favourite at the City ground.

But quicker than he could make a real impact in the first-team, he was sold to one of Germany's most controversial but up-and-coming clubs, where he is progressing nicely.

Forest were certainly too quick to move him on.

Des Walker

When fan-favourite Des Walker was sold to Sampdoria in 1992, you can forgive many Forest fans for feeling frustrated that club bosses had let go one of their best ever centre-backs with a little too much ease.

He'd played close to 300 games during his first stint at the club before moving to Italy and then to Sheffield Wednesday.

However, he returned to the East Midlands for the final chapter of his career, which ended in 2004.

Named by Gary Lineker as one of the toughest centre-backs he ever faced on the pitch but plenty of fans felt he shouldn't have been sold the first time round in the slightest.

Roy Keane

Many forget that before his glory days with Manchester United, Roy Keane was a seasoned and worshipped star at the City Ground, regularly turning in performances full of grit and determination under manager Brian Clough.

He played over 100 times for Forest during a three-year stint but signed for Manchester United for £3.75 million, a British transfer record at the time.

Despite recouping a massive amount of money for Keane at the time, plenty of Forest fans would have preferred him to stay. They felt he was sold too quickly by the club.

Trevor Francis

Signed from Birmingham City as the first ever £1million British player, Trevor Francis arrived at Nottingham Forest with one of the biggest footballing reputations in the sport.

He won the European cup with Forest after they defeat Malmo in the 1979 final but never quite went on to fulfil his full potential at the club, which some argued was because he was being played out-wide, instead of down the middle.

He was sold after just two seasons to Manchester City, but the large majority of Forest fans felt there was more to come from the Birmingham City legend.

Karl Darlow

One of the next promising English goalkeepers to be progressing in the game, Karl Darlow was sold to Newcastle United in the summer of 2014 and only now are we beginning to see why the Magpies made a move for the talented young prospect.

He's single-handedly kept Champions League-experienced goalkeeper Mats Selz out of the first-team all season and at times, has looked one of the best goalkeepers in the division.

Stuart Pearce said he had been sold against his will at the time and it's a decision that could come back to haunt the Reds, with Darlow looking like a future England international.