Pre-season synopsis - Forest (H)

[ARLukomski]

First time seeing Notts vs Forest so here goes

- Good performance first half. Controlled the game and created some clear cut chances. Promising against a team who had a lot more first team players out than last year

- Palmer and Jones had good games. The tempo and passing quality are still there with Matty and Jodi, with a full pre-season will be exciting 

- Nemane and Tobi linked up well down the right and given time, that link could flourish. Nice to see an adaptation to the system, where we fall back into a back 4 when defending. Some defensively problems sorted but not all which brings me on to...

- The fact we still need a CB. Our lack of pace is still worrying and without Baldwin, our calmness on the ball isn't as high. AB not having played a single minute of pre-season is worrying. However I imagine that Claxton playing there means we may be after one

- I was impressed with Nathan Claxton when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, decent positioning, brought the ball out from the back. Give him a few more games, but we still need a CB

- We looked a lot more sharper and up to speed than we did last week. Still some rough edges to smooth over but it comes with pre-season games. The link up play will get better with games

[liampie]

agreed @ARLukomski.

i would add that will randall looks so much better on the left, rather than the right. i thought he struggled and played quite poorly, he did okay when passed too but not in a direct way.

aaron nemane looked class.

connell rawlinson did great.

centre of midfield was superb.

we looked like the team in control, with forest looking better on the counter.

[Chris]

I agree, Will Randall never looked to be in it.

Sometimes the balls to him were over hit, but more than a few times he remained static, failing to read the pass and the few crosses he did manage to get were either low or smashed into a Forest player.

Adam Chicksen for me was a bit indifferent, when he joined in the attacks he was good but seemed to be more defensive for the most part. He never really did the two like we know he can, though defensively he mopped up a fair amount in the first half and remained very calm. It impressed me, I just wished he linked up better with Sam Austin when in attack.

Aidan Stone appeared to be in good condition, well defended, but unfortunately he was deceived by the Forest's goal. His communication was extremely beneficial, as was the presence of Connell Rawlinson. Rawlinson looked to be enjoying himself and mugged off the Forest players several times. Including heading the ball to himself three times, before giving it to Stone.

Lucien Mahovo displayed remarkable progress on the pitch, consistently delivering impressive crosses every time he partnered with Luther Munakandafa. However, the latter seemed to lack confidence in putting in his own crosses or taking on the Forest players.

Matt Palmer, John Bostock, Jim O'Brien, David McGoldrick, Jodi Jones, Aaron Nemane, Cedwyn Scott, and Macaulay Langstaff all performed well and were satisfied with their performance.

[Joshua]

I was impressed by how well Notts handled Forest. All the players played a significant role in keeping them quiet, and it showed that we can compete with teams at our level.

[NottsTastic]

I fully agree with @ARLukomski. The friendly match was a useful exercise, and I liked the centre-back we had on trial. He seemed reliable.