Nottingham Forest kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth – on a day that saw the Reds lose Danilo to a serious injury.
Forest had the better of the first half but in truth, the second 45 belonged to Bournemouth and their equaliser probably was deserved.
The Reds will now quickly move on to Southampton next week looking to try and claim all three points for the first time this season.
There were some positives from the performance – and despite what some Forest fans will have you believe, it’s not all doom and gloom.
The challenge for Nuno Espirito Santo is to find more fluency in his team’s performance levels and the players must find that killer instinct in front of goal.
One of the positives was highlighted by Chris Sutton who was watching on at the City Ground.
Chris Sutton wowed by Nottingham Forest player vs Bournemouth
The player in the sights of Sutton for praise was the talismanic centre-forward Chris Wood.
The 32-year-old picked up this season, where he left off during 2023/24, and scored his first goal in the Premier League season.
Wood was on hand to fire home after goalkeeper Neto had spilt a tame Ryan Yates effort straight into his path.
Sutton told BBC Sport: “He’s a natural finisher, Wood. On the move already, anticipating the goalkeeper making a mess of it and that’s a great start for Forest.”
Wood scored 14 goals in the Premier League last season and 15 in all competitions – finishing ahead of the field as the Forest top goalscorer.
Wood has Forest Premier League record in his sights
After a goal-laden campaign during last season, Wood has now propelled himself into contention to be Forest’s best ever in terms of goals.
Wood is just nine short of the record and another clinical campaign could see him stand alone at the top of the charts.
Bryan Roy has the record with 24 goals in the Premier League for the Reds and Wood is just eight away from equalling him.
The striker might not be everyone’s cup of tea as a centre-forward but on his day he knows where the net is and he’s an asset in the Forest dressing room.
Forest are on the hunt for a new striker but whoever comes in will have to work extremely hard to get into the team ahead of Wood.
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