One winner, one loser as Nottingham Forest salvage draw from Birmingham

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Nottingham Forest left it late to earn a point for the second week running, with the 2-2 draw against Birmingham City leaving Aitor Karanka and his squad with plenty of work to do.

The Reds were second best throughout the contest but goals in the last 15 minutes from Joe Lolley and Daryl Murphy saw Forest snatch a share of the spoils to remain unbeaten.

Although Forest remain unbeaten from their first five Championship outings, there is a real consensus that the performance levels must increase considerably if they are to start collecting maximum points from games.

Following the disappointing contest from a Forest perspective, The Boot Room takes a look at one winner and one loser from the Saturday stalemate.

Winner – Ben Osborn

The Forest academy graduate hasn’t been left out of the starting line-up too often in recent seasons but he was forced to start on the bench for the visit of Birmingham City.

Much to Osborn’s glee, the Reds didn’t possess anywhere near the required quality without his presence in the side, whilst Jack Robinson who deputised at left-back struggled desperately for any sort of rhythm.

The 24-year-old transformed the game when he was introduced in the second-half and instantly made Forest look like a more potent threat going forwards.

Loser – Hillal Soudani

Having netted in his previous two Championship outings, the Algerian attacker was handed the chance to make his full debut for the club against Birmingham.

The 30-year-old was full of energy in the number ten role but struggled against a physical Blues outfit and was hooked shortly after half-time for record signing Joao Carvalho.

Soudani will clearly be a big player for Forest this season and there is little doubt that he is more than capable of being a force in the Championship.

Saturday is a game he will quickly want to move on from, however, and on this performance, he might be best used as a second striker, rather than a number ten.