Nottingham Forest will be looking to make it seven league games unbeaten when they host Barnsley this weekend as they continue to flourish under Sabri Lamouchi.

In truth, most Reds fans will admit they didn't know what to expect when the former Rennes chief arrived in the summer to succeed former player Martin O'Neill.

Whilst he had a decent reputation in France, this was his first taste of English football and it was clearly a risk.

And, when Forest lost their first game at home to West Brom, some may have been worried about what exactly this season would bring.

However, the turnaround since then has been remarkable and despite all the foreign quality in the squad, it has been two academy graduates to come through at the City Ground who have inspired this success.

Michael Dawson and Joe Worrall are the two who came through the ranks, making their debuts 15 years apart, and are performing extremely well as a partnership right now.

The experienced Dawson, who has played at the highest level, is a real leader for Lamouchi in the heart of the defence and helps all of his teammates around him with his know-how.

His guidance has been key to the development of Worrall too. The 22-year-old was sent out on loan to Rangers 12 months ago and many will have felt that he had played his last game for the Championship outfit as he featured for the Glasgow giants north of the border.

But, he has been handed a second chance at his boyhood club and it's one that he has grasped with both hands.

Even though the centre-back pairing may lack pace, they have a lot of old-school defensive qualities that shine through in the second-tier.

They are dominant in the air, smart in how they position themselves and will throw their body on the line to keep the ball out of the net and that determination and passion can be underappreciated in the modern game.

The stats speak for themselves too, only the top two have conceded fewer goals than Forest and a clean sheet against what had been a free-flowing Swansea last time out showed the progress that has been made quickly under the new boss.

Lamouchi has played the duo in every league game so far this season and the two lads from the academy are going to continue to be at the heart of Forest's defence as they look to push for promotion - something that few would've envisaged in the summer.

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