Joe Lolley is starting to thrive at Nottingham Forest in a key period for the club.

Prior to Lolley's first start, Aitor Karanka had struggled in his brief time at the club with one win from six games. However, since then, the club have drawn and won twice with Lolley the key factor in this recent upturn. In the three games he has started, Lolley has two assists and two goals which is a great return.

During the January transfer window, Karanka opted for experience as he overhauled the squad with 10 signings. This led to a bit of upheaval with results being affected, but the small period of adjustment appears to have ended with Lolley and fellow January signing Lee Tomlin's performances being testament to that.

The tendency for experienced players to adjust to a new environment quickly with a limited number of mistakes is one of the traditional benefits in comparison to using young players. This comes at the expense of the talented prospects that are at Forest, but consistent results in the long-term means that is likely to be overlooked.

Forest fans are likely to desire consistency more than anything else as recent seasons have lacked stability.

Lolley and the other January signings will be key to this because are a a major part of his vision for the club. The understanding that is starting to develop between these players is clear to see with Lolley and Tomlin being the standout performers. Four of Forest's last eight goals have exclusively come from their partnership.

This chemistry in the final third is important because of Karanka' emphasis on defensive solidity which means his teams can be very static and ineffective attacking-wise if players aren't able to combine well and improvise together.

Forest fans... do you agree? Let us know below!