It's been a long time since Nottingham Forest were last in the Premier League but Sabri Lamouchi has helped boost hopes that this year will see the Reds finally return to the top flight.

An automatic promotion place might be a bit of a stretch now but a play-off berth certainly looks possible at the very least and, providing the season resumes, there will be hope the Reds can seal a top-six spot.

Certainly, they're having a good campaign this season and when you compare that to some of the years they've had since dropping out of the top flight, the contrast is night and day.

It's been a real roller-coaster ride for Reds fans during this current spell in the EFL and, here, we're looking at some particularly down periods.

With that in mind, then, we've taken a look at 13 of the worst signings the club has made in recent memory, in no particular order...

Djamel Abdoun signed for a seven-figure fee for Forest and had plenty of caps at international level for the Algerian national team.

Indeed, there was plenty to suggest that he could have a positive impact at the club but, alas, that is not how things transpired.

He was in his peak years during his time at Forest but failed to highlight that with very few decent performances of note given the expectation level.

It took a bit of shifting for him to leave, too, after manager Stuart Pearce eventually told him that he was no longer needed at the City Ground.

A real case of what could have been perhaps.

Ishmael Miller had a good time at youth level with Manchester City and signed from West Brom after again having a fairly good spell, now at senior level.

Indeed, there were plenty of reasons why he could be a decent signing for Forest and enjoy some good progress in terms of his career there but things did not work out that way.

He signed for a seven-figure fee but only scored four goals during his time at the club, and loan spells to the likes of Yeovil and Blackpool would follow.

After a fair few years on the books at the City Ground, things eventually came to an end as he joined Huddersfield Town on a permanent deal in 2016.

Nicky Eaden was signed under Gary Megson and, given the manager's ill-fated period at the City Ground, he's naturally not looked back on too fondly.

The defender was signed at a time when Forest fans were beginning to get impatient with their side and so it was never going to work out for him.

A tough time, and two spells at Lincoln duly followed fairly quickly, before he was released.

Before retiring, he played for Halesowen and has since moved into the coaching side of things.

Kevin Gomis signed from French side Nice with the idea being that he could take his next step in his career at the City Ground and kick on.

However, things would not go to plan for the physically imposing defender.

He signed on loan initially at Forest and if it had gone well he could well have stayed put but, of course, that is not what happened.

Forest quickly realised he did not have the potential they perhaps thought he had to be a good player for them and he played just once before returning to France.

He's also featured for Dundee in his career.

Scott Dobie worked hard and was praised for that but he was signed to score goals and that simply did not happen during his time at the club.

He scored just three times for Forest during a three-year spell at the club, having played for the likes of West Bromwich Albion and Millwall previously.

Indeed, he arrived in 2005 for around half a million pounds but by the time he left for Carlisle in 2008, he was commanding a far smaller fee.

He also picked up a handful of caps for Scotland during his career.

Khaled Al Rashidi's signing was a complete mess from start to finish.

They tried once to get him in and he failed a work permit but, under Fawaz, they went back the following year.

That time, they got their man - or his man depending on how you want to look at it - and he'd certainly not manage to convince given the sheer lack of minutes he would play for the Reds.

A grand total of 0 appearances was knocked up for the senior side before an exit at the end of the 2014/15 season to round off one of the most pointless transfers in recent history.

Rafik Djebbour sparked early hopes that he was going to be a good signing for Forest as the Reds saw him score on his debut against Yeovil Town.

However, things would quickly turn sour involving the player with questions over his professionalism and commitment coming about.

Indeed, he'd only play seven more times for the Reds during his time there before being shown the door - with no more goals to show for it.

Since, he's had fairly forgettable spells at some minor French sides.

Neil Harris was a Millwall legend as a player and scored a great number of goals for the Lions but when he ventured to Forest for a brief spell, he could not replicate that form.

Sometimes that can happen and it surely will again where a player, so ingrained in one club, simply can't have an impact elsewhere.

At Forest, he scored just the once in a 4-0 win over Chesterfield and was soon leaving the City Ground with the goals far from flowing.

He's now manager of Cardiff, another club whom he played for during his career.

Eugene Dadi was another Megson signing that failed to work.

He played just six times for Forest after a decent spell at Tranmere Rovers, and failed to find the net in Garibaldi Red.

After that short spell, he was quickly loaned to Notts County and never played for Forest again, whilst he's since been both an actor in Austria and the owner of a clothing label.

At least he was signed on a free, so it could have been worse - not much though.

Gino Padula signed on a free after a decent spell at QPR and so there was potential here for him to be a shrewd signing under Gary Megson, with him possessing plenty of second-tier experience.

However, he played just a handful of games before getting dropped in September 2005 and that largely set the tone for his two-year stint at the club.

He played once in 2006/07 before being released at the end of it and would move to the United States for a spell playing MLS football before hanging up his boots.

Andrea Silenzi was the first Italian to play in the Premier League - there was always going to be excitement surrounding his arrival.

He'd played for Torino and Napoli in Italy - with Diego Maradona at the latter - but anything he'd learned from the Argentine had evidently worn away by the time he got to the City Ground.

Just two goals in 20 games were scored - neither in the league - and he'd soon be leaving the club on loan with reports then claiming he simply refused to head back to Nottingham.

Great promise, little delivery was the issue here.

Marco Pascolo was a Swiss international that signed from Cagliari for just under £1m which, in 1997, was a fairly decent-sized fee.

The goalkeeper started life at Forest fairly well, too, getting in the first-team but it wasn't long until he was taken out from between the sticks and seen very little thereafter.

Indeed, he only managed to chalk up six appearances during his stay Trentside and would eventually move back to his native Switzerland, turning out for FC Zurich.

He is now the goalkeeping coach for FC Sion.

Nicolau Dumitru joined from Napoli.

When a player arrives from a club like that, the natural feeling is to think that an exciting signing has been secured but, quickly, Dumitru proved to be anything but that.

He played just 12 times during his spell on loan at the City Ground and in that period, questions over his talent quickly came about.

He looked firmly out of his depth during his time at the club and was quickly moved on - it's no surprise Forest didn't keep him for longer.

He's since played for the likes of Alcoron and Gimnastic in Spain as well as Livorno in Italy.