3 things we clearly learnt about Nottingham Forest after their win v Blackpool

Nottingham Forest put a huge marker down as they thrashed Blackpool on Saturday at Bloomfield Road. 

It was a convincing performance against a very good defensive team and one that will make the rest of the playoff chasers stand up and take notice.

Forest were scintillating going forward with Blackpool unable to deal with the waves of attack by Steve Cooper’s players.

The Reds made it eight games without defeat after this win and it started well after 11 minutes when Philip Zinckernagel scored a deflected goal.

Forest didn’t stop from that point and continued to attack as Brennan Johnson scored twice in six minutes to make it 3-0 going into half-time.

That effectively killed the game from a Blackpool perspective before Surridge made it four in the 82nd minute. Blackpool grabbed a consolation goal in the 89th minute but just did not have the same clinical edge Forest had in this game.

Here, we take a look at the three things we learnt about Forest after their 4-1 win over Blackpool.

McKenna is vital

McKenna was expected to be ruled out for six weeks so his inclusion was a surprise. But, that is to the advantage of Forest as his performance was as steady as they come.

He adds balance to the back three deployed by Cooper and whilst not as comfortable with the ball as some, his defensive ability ensure the left-hand side for Forest is very quiet.

Keeping a settled backline will be important for Cooper as Forest look to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

Players coming back to full fitness is huge

It’s quite staggering to think that Forest are able to put out the starting XI they did whilst having Lewis Grabban and Joe Lolley on the bench.

A year ago, those two were vital to Forest going forward but now, you