Nottingham Forest blog: Things just got a Brit harder for Freedman

Dougie Freedman’s job at Nottingham Forest was hard enough, but having lost Brit Assombalonga for the next 12 months, it almost seems like mission impossible!

Freedman was seconds away from a third consecutive win since taking the reins at Forest, but some awful defending saw basement side Blackpool snatch a late point.

To add to the embarrassment, Blackpool only had nine men on the field as they drew level, in the 97th minute of an astonishing game.

The 4-4 score line was a fair reflection on an action packed game, well the second half anyway.

Forest have plundered 10 goals in freedman’s first three games in charge but have also conceded six.

It is somewhat remarkable really given the fact that we are still playing with one up front.

I was a massive critic of Stuart Pearce but I must be honest when I say that the new man has changed very little in the way of tactics.

We are still operating with a lone striker and there are still a large percentage of long balls in any given game.

However, there seems to be a real sense of direction and belief in the players now though.

So after back to back victories over Brighton and Wigan respectively; people began to wonder whether promotion might just be possible again.

But during that comfortable win over Wigan, any lingering dreams were banished as our top scorer broke down, with a horrific injury.

Assombalonga crashed to the ground following an attempt at goal, the result was a dislocated knee and ligament damage.

So what now for Dougie? With the likes of Fryatt, Blackstock and Veldwijk on offer, it doesn’t take a genius to see that none of them could really lead the line on their own. Blackstock found his scoring boots again and for me, this is a perfect opportunity to partner him with Matty Fryatt.

There are extremely tough times ahead given the fact that Dougie’s first three matches came against relegation fodder if we’re honest.

Next up are Bolton and that one doesn’t require any explanations but then we face the brilliant Bournemouth.

Given the magnitude of the next two fixtures, coupled with the absence of our top scorer you could say that Mr Freedman will certainly earn his money in the coming weeks!