Nottingham Forest must hand start to Hillal Soudani vs Birmingham City

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Nottingham Forest have made a solid start to the 2018/19 campaign with Aitor Karanka’s men winning once and drawing three times in their opening four games of the season.

The Reds have big expectations on their shoulders this season having spent over £20 million on new recruits during the summer months, with every emphasis now placed on winning promotion to the Premier League.

With a plethora of players now at the manager’s disposal every single team selection is intriguing and it remains to be seen if any of the fringe players from the first four matches will get the nod to start against Birmingham City on Saturday evening.

One man in particular who is pushing hard to earn a starting berth is the club’s new Algerian signing Hillal Soudani, with the 30-year-old netting in successive league games having been introduced as a substitute on both occasions.

The all-action forward was signed in the summer from Dinamo Zagreb and he followed up his winning goal against Reading with a stoppage time equaliser at the DW Stadium last weekend to earn Forest a share of the spoils right at the death.

His leveller against Wigan might have piled some pressure on Forest striker Lewis Grabban as it was his penalty miss that led to Soudani pouncing on the rebound to spare the blushes of the £6 million man who is still waiting for his maiden Forest goal.

With lots of talent now at Karanka’s disposal a rotation policy doesn’t necessarily seem like a bad thing, especially given the unforgiving nature of the Championship and with games coming thick and fast.

One factor that is in Soudani’s favour ahead of Saturday’s team selection is that he boasts the ability to play in more than one position, which could mean he plays in one of the wide positions, with Grabban continuing in attack as he looks to get the confidence boost of a first goal for his new club.

It has been years since Forest possessed a squad with as much quality as they do now and it the balance that Karanka has collated offers high optimism for the future.

The challenge for the Reds’ manager now is to find the right balance on the pitch every single week and given the confidence and determination he has shown during his last two substitute appearances, it would seem very unjust if Soudani didn’t get the chance to showcase more of his abilities from the start against Birmingham this weekend.