Jack Colback has conceded that Nottingham Forest simply haven’t been good enough so far this season and that the Reds need to work their way out of the situation.
Ahead of a crucial game with Wycombe Wanderers, Forest are 19th – three points above the drop zone – in a season they were expected to push for promotion.
31-year-old Colback was signed from Newcastle United in the summer to aid that promotion push, but speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, the midfielder admitted the team has underperformed and the players have to take responsibility for that.
“We know this season we’ve not been good enough really, if everyone’s honest,” Colback said. “We’re in an area of the table we shouldn’t be, but after this amount of games, the table doesn’t lie.
“We’ve got to take responsibility as players and put in more good performances and pick up more points.
“There’s been a few times where we’ve kind of made a little gap and then two weeks later you’re back amongst it.
“I think that’s just the way this league is, everyone can beat everyone and teams are taking points off each other, but the flipside of that is a couple of wins and you’re midtable.
“Everyone’s disappointed with the way the season’s gone, but we’re going to try and finish with a flourish and get as much points as we can.”
Colback has made 14 league appearances this season and returned from injury in the midweek 2-1 win over Coventry City.
The injury sustained in the 1-0 loss to Swansea City came at a bad time for Colback, as he’d just gotten back to form after a year of not playing at Newcastle.
Despite being out of action, Colback is still Forest’s most accurate passer this year with 87% of his passes finding a red shirt, but while he believes the squad is full of quality, they have to collectively roll their sleeves up to get out of this relegation battle.
“We’ve got to approach each game differently and just try and get as many points as we can and see where we end up, but we need to realise the situation as well and we can’t afford to take any game for granted.
“We’re in a position that is unusual for us in terms of the expectations at the start of the season, but we are where we are and we have to make sure we come out and we work hard and we run because it’s not just about the quality of the squad.
“I’m sure people might be a bit sick of hearing that because of where we are, because there is a hell of a lot of quality in the squad, but we have to work hard and we have to run in this league.
“If we take our foot off the gas, we’ll keep getting dragged into areas we don’t want to be.”
How important will Jack Colback be as Forest seek to avoid the drop?
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