Michael Hefele's spell at Nottingham Forest has been a lot less successful than his time at Yorkshire side Huddersfield Town.

At Huddersfield Town, Hefele played a key part in promotion to the Premier League, where they were victorious over Reading in the play-off final, despite missing a spot kick in the crucial penalty shoot-out at Wembley Stadium.

However, competition for a defensive spot is higher than ever, with Michael Dawson and Tobias Figueiredo providing backup to Jack Robinson, Molla Wague and Alexander Milosevic in central defence. This has left Michael Hefele to fight for his place to even get a place in the matchday squad, let alone the starting lineup.

His Achilles injury last season would not have helped his case and he may be looking for a new club after he returns from injury, with the prospect of getting regular first team football at the City Ground looking unlikely.

Here are three other players that are likely to follow defender Hefele out of the City Ground in the summer, as Nottingham Forest try to build a squad capable of winning promotion back to the Premier League.

Apostolos Vellios

Apostolos Vellios has spent three years at the City Ground after joining from Greek side Iraklis. However, his time at Nottingham Forest looks like it's coming to an end.

After appearing infrequently for Nottingham Forest between 2016 and 2018, he was sent out on loan by then-manager Aitor Karanka to Belgian side Waasland-Beveren in late August of last year.

With Lewis Grabban, Daryl Murphy, Hillal Soudani, Karim Ansarifard and Arvin Appiah all ahead of Vellios in the pecking order, Vellios will need to force his way out of Nottingham Forest if he's to experience first team football anytime soon.

The loan signing of Wolves striker Leo Bonatini in January will have reinforced that message to the Greek striker.

Jason Cummings

Cummings has had a disappointing time at Nottingham Forest since he joined the club as an exciting signing in June 2017 from Scottish side Hibernian.

Only six months after signing a three-year contract, Cummings went back to Scotland on-loan to Rangers, where he made several appearances before going back to England for pre-season.

However, there still wasn't a place for the striker at Forest, with the Scottish forward being loaned out to League One side Peterborough United for the 2018-19 season.

Despite a quick start to the season, Cummings' loan at the League One team was cut short after failing to live up to expectations at London Road. He was loaned out to eventual League One winners Luton Town in late January 2019, hoping to make a better impact in League One.

However, the striker barely featured for Luton Town in the second half of the season. This will have had a majorly negative impact on the chances of Cummings being part of the first team at Nottingham Forest next season.

He's likely to follow Michael Hefele out of the City Ground.

Panagiotis Tachtsidis

Like Vellios, Panagiotis Tachtsidis is the victim of fierce competition for places at Forest.

After signing a two year deal with the Midlands side last August, the Greek midfielder hasn't had chance to make an impact in England, with Tachtsidis being frozen out of the side since his arrival at the City Ground.

He moved to Italian side Leece to get more first team football in January, where he contributed to the side's promotion to Serie A. After a reasonably successful loan spell in Italy, the midfielder might be looking to make the move to Leece permanent.

It's looking more and more unlikely that Tachtsidis will be able to force his way in to the first team squad at Forest, with several first team players ahead of him in the pecking order.

He is almost certain to leave in the summer.