Nottingham Forest secured another three points on the road with a stunning 4-0 win over QPR last night.
The Reds enjoyed a fruitful night in the capital thanks to goals from Tobias Figueiredo, Lewis Grabban, Joao Carvalho and Alfa Semedo.
The game saw lots of positives from a Forest perspective. Claiming all three points saw the Reds leap into fourth-place in the Sky Bet Championship.
Following the win, Nottingham Forest News looked at five talking points from the contest.
Dr Watson easing the pain of losing Sow
Ben Watson continued his fine form last night as Forest ran riot at Loftus Road. The experienced midfielder had been frozen out completely this time last year and his return to form has been remarkable.
If you’d said at the start of the season that after 17 games Forest would be fourth in the league with Watson having played every game, some strange looks would have been cast.
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Against QPR he was once again instrumental. A superb sliding tackle led to Sammy Ameobi putting the second goal on a plate for Lewis Grabban. It was a performance that typified the determined nature of the Forest captain.
Grabban making a mockery of early-season comments
Back in August former Forest player, Kenny Burns suggested to Nottinghamshire Live that Lewis Grabban should be sold and replaced by Dwight Gayle.
Since then the 31-year-old talisman has netted eight times and once again came up trumps for Forest last night.
The key to helping the Reds striker get into form is by giving him chances. Sammy Ameobi did that last night with a pin-point cross that provided Grabban with a tap-in.
Keeping the former Bournemouth man fit and firing will be vitally important for the Reds this season.
Samba scare
Impressive goalkeeper Brice Samba received treatment in the second half and for a moment it looked concerning for the Reds.
Samba has quickly become a mainstay in the Forest team and they won’t want to lose him for any period of time.
The Congolese stopper did continue for the rest of the game but it will remain to be seen if there is anything more sinister.
Forest’s hopes of a strong season will depend on keeping their star players fit and Samba certainly falls into that bracket.
Third successive shutout
The Forest squad is strong and everyone will have a part to play but a third successive clean sheet is a massive boost for the Reds.
It was the second game in succession with the same back five and each member of the unit played their part last night.
Full-backs Matty Cash and Jack Robinson were energetic and robust, whilst Tobias Figueiredo and Joe Worrall cleared everything that was thrown at them.
Consistency is massive within a defensive unit and the current five will hope to now earn a run of games in the team.
Carvalho proves a point
Forest’s third goal at QPR was perhaps the most pleasing as far as supporters were concerned.
Joao Carvalho has struggled for form so far this season but following his second-half introduction, he turned on the style at Loftus Road.
His superb solo goal added insult to injury for QPR. Picking the ball up outside he progressed into the box, nutmegged a defender and then picked out the corner of the net with the outside of his right foot.
The challenge for the Portuguese maestro now is to force his way back into Lamouchi’s starting eleven.