Five things we learned as Nottingham Forest lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough

Nottingham Forest lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough as Chris Hughton met the task facing him at the City Ground head-on.

The Reds lost for the first time in four games but have won just one of their nine games this season.

Hughton has just two more games before the international break and it has to be said Forest could do with six points.

The Championship table is currently looking bleak and Hughton will be desperate to revive the club’s fortunes.

Following yesterday’s game we looked at five things we learned from the contest.

He’s had his critics but Brice Samba is ramming the unfair words back down some throats since Hughton’s arrival.

You could argue that Samba stopped Forest going 2-0 down against Derby last week and made a brilliant save late on at Luton.

He made a brilliant save from Britt Assombalonga in the first half yesterday too, showcasing his superb ability in one on one situations.

In fairness we didn’t learn this yesterday and the Scotland international has been brilliant since coming into the club.

At the Riverside Stadium he was once again colossal and is striking up a nice partnership with Tobias Figureiredo.

The 23-year-old knows when to kick it, when to head it and more crucially when to play and when to clear.

Signed for £3 million from Aberdeen in a deal which could rise to £6 million, McKenna looks like the real deal.

Forest are quite simply too one dimensional when Ryan Yates and Jack Colback are paired together.

With Harry Arter out injured Forest have found themselves struggling to be as creative and as forward-thinking.

Colback and Yates both try and do a similar job and Yates has struggled with playing the box-to-box role.

The challenge for Hughton is to try and maximise his midfield a bit more and the return of Arter can’t come soon enough.

The 18-year-old winger hasn’t played a single minute of football since Hughton arrived and finds himself down the pecking order.

Mighten wasn’t even named in the 18 yesterday and could struggle for chances in the wake of Anthony Knockaert’s arrival.

It will certainly be interesting to see what role the academy graduate plays between January when the window reopens.

If chances aren’t forthcoming, the Reds might be wise to get the flyer out on loan for the second half of the campaign.

Yuri Ribeiro fans won’t want to hear it but the ex-Brighton man Gaetan Bong played alright yesterday.

He was given the nod ahead of Ribeiro leading to some people suggest, perhaps comically, that Hughton isn’t picking the team.

The 32-year-old made a first start since February for the club and played pretty well.

Hughton used Bong as his left-back during the campaign when Brighton were promoted to the Premier League.

Nicholas Ioannou will probably remain the first choice option but for the next two games at least Bong might continue to deputise.