Opinion: Does win at Wycombe mean Nottingham Forest have turned the corner?

It’s not just that they won (they’ve done that with increasing regularity) but more that they won comfortably away from home.

It seems like a long time since, come around 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon, Forest fans could stop fretting and simply sit back and enjoy watching the Reds play away.

Yet on Saturday, as Chris Hughton’s men cantered almost nonchalantly to three away points, supporters watching at home did not, for once, find themselves digging their fingernails into the sofa or wearing a well-trodden path in the carpet through incessant and nervous pacing. It was all very calm and relaxing.

The opening stages saw Forest come out of the traps like an excited puppy as they tore at the home team. This was in contrast to the sluggish performances in the opening stages of some games and certainly made a change from those dark times when they conceded a goal within the opening ten minutes with alarming regularity.

A promising opening was capped by a superb piece of opportunism by Glenn Murray. He latched onto a raking ball from Gaeten Bong and lobbed the keeper from range.

Particularly satisfying was the ball bouncing on the goal-line, away from the keeper’s despairing dive. We live in a period where we should take satisfaction from the small things.

It was also pleasing to see Joe Lolley come off the bench and look a lot more like the Joe Lolley that Forest fans know and love. His first contribution was to fizz a shot just wide of the post. He then proceeded to receive a delightful ball from James Garner before crossing with pinpoint accuracy for Anthony Knockaert to slam home. For the supporters watching at home, this was like a showreel of Forest’s best bits before things went south.

Does it mean that the elusive corner has been well and truly turned? Are they undeniably safe from any threat of relegation? Are they now hurtling towards the play-offs at break-neck speed, clutching the maxim that there is always one club that comes from nowhere?

Easy now. Hold on. Slow down. Let’s not get carried away just yet. With all due respect to Wycombe, this was Wycombe: bottom of the Championship and though very game, arguably out of their depth at this level.

In addition, there is a case to be made that despite taking seven points from the last three games, they have only really played well in small patches: the first half away at Coventry and the second half at Wycombe, specifically after Glenn Murray’s penalty pretty much secured the points. By then, the home team were a spent force anyway.

At the same time, rising high in form tables and key players finding some kind of form are all wholly positive signs that something is brewing at the City Ground.