Manning’s acrobatics, Robins’ remorse, and an innovative strength .

It was remarkable how long Forest took before they addressed the constant 3vs2 down their right flank as repeatedly Rob Dickie would turn into space and then have his pick of Cam Pring in a wider spot, and Anis Mehmeti tucked inside. Frequently the passes found their man, and repeatedly City focused their attacks down that wing, with World Cup winner Gonzalo Montiel continually over-matched.

Ross McCrorie was having plenty of joy on the opposite flank with his mixture of power and precision on the ball as he gave Nuno Tavares a real contest, frequently gliding past the first defender and then moving infield to have the Forest midfield and defence back-pedalling.

It was apparent within the first few minutes of City’s intentions to work the flanks with Dickie spotting Pring sneaking beyond Montiel’s attentions but his pass was a little overhit. Had it been on the money, the left-back would have been free in behind.

That connection enabled Mehmeti to pick his moments, sometimes stationed towards the sidelines, often just moving five yards inside where he could exchange passes with Pring and then run at the Forest defence. One one occasion he successfully pressed a defender into a mistake, got to the byline and very nearly set up Conway.

Dickie, Pring and Mehmeti also combined on 24 minutes to create the best chance of the game for City as the Albanian fired in a first-time centre which Conway spun off his marker to meet with the side of his boot but placed his effort just wide.

City’s momentum also kept the crowd up and although the visitors threatened on the break a couple of times as Ryan Yates shot straight at Max O’Leary and Danilo found the side-netting when well-placed from Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cut-back, the Robins ended the half on the front foot with another Mehmeti centre nearly finding Conway and then Knight heading over from the subsequent corner.

Clearly Forest had to be better and Nuno made some telling changes with the slightly pedestrian Yates taken off along with Nicolas Dominguez, and Morgan Gibbs-White and Neco Williams introduced. They added extra craft but, as a team, Forest just played higher up the pitch and City naturally had to retreat a little closer to their box.

But while they weren’t afforded the same level of control, in truth, O’Leary was rarely troubled outside of a Chris Wood header which looped into his arms, a few low crosses which he did well to dive onto and Hudson-Odoi who drove high into the side-netting at his near post.

City, again, probably had the better chances with Sam Bell getting around the back and electing to cut inside onto his left foot, leaving one defender fooled but not a second, while Pring chose not to dummy and present Nahki Wells with a opening from Cornick’s pass, instead taking it on himself and rifling a shot into the side-netting.

It was a good performance, perhaps even better than that when the defensive display is taken into context, and overall City arguably delivered a higher-level display than against West Ham, but the opportunity was there to make it a truly great one.

Cleaning house

In his post-match press conference, Nuno was over the moon with the clean sheet his side had produced. It was the first of his reign, with their previous shutout back on October 7 at Crystal Palace. That probably speaks to some of the frustration above and City’s run of three goals in their last seven games is unquestionably a statistic that is holding them back, but there was plenty of reasons for Manning and his team to be delighted with their own zero in the goals against column.

Having watched this game, it’s slightly mystifying exactly how City managed to concede two goals at Preston North End, because if you take that game out of the equation, they’ve only conceded five in seven games, three of which were against Premier League opposition.

Within that block, and bringing the trip to Deepdale back into it, they’ve managed clean sheets at Birmingham City – in probably the most unremarkable game of the season – West Ham and now Forest.

The point being, overall, Preston-aside they’ve defended well enough to claim more than they have, so in keeping Forest at bay it’ll surely be of enormous importance to the confidence and trust each man in that team has in themselves and each other.

Zak Vyner was an absolute model of composure in everything he did, whether it be stepping into space to read passes forward, taking a touch and then distributing into midfield, or just tracking runners and making a vital last-ditch intervention. His passing, outside of one ambitious crossfield pass to Pring in the second-half, was clean and his reading of the game was exemplary.

Dickie’s best work was probably on the ball and aforementioned connection on the outside to Pring or when cutting more centrally and finding Mehmeti moving off the wing. Each and every time he seemed to make the right decision on the ball, and that includes the occasions when he turned back and started again, aware that nothing was on.

George Tanner maybe delivered his best performance in a City shirt, but the fact we’re writing that sort of sentence again is testament to his consistency, and the assurance in which he plays is mirrored within the stands as whenever Forest broke, yes, they did create some openings but there was never any fear that City would leave themselves over-exposed or not scramble to deny the opposition enough space.

With McCrorie bringing more physicality in there, and Pring a constant force on both sides of the ball, after the wobble at Preston, which spelled danger in terms of the overall belief of the defensive unit, they’ve very clearly parked that disjointed second-half display at Deepdale and moved on quickly.

They look organised when in shape, and then with a real determination to help each other out should the opposition break through a tackle, win a 50/50 or just somehow create some space in the penalty area.

In the first half, Forest drew City in and then a pass was quickly lofted over the top for Hudson-Odoi but Dickie moved across from his left-sided berth to place a header into touch, cleaning up any danger. Montiel dummied inside past Pring but before he could think about getting a shot away, there was Dickie again to deny the Argentine.

After the break, whenever Williams got into space out wide and was able to deliver into the area, there was Vyner commanding inside the six-yard box, getting his limbs to the ball and denying any sustained pressure in front of O’Leary.

It certainly bodes well against a Coventry side who have been scoring at will recently and while City are still trying to find the right connections and patterns on the ball, particularly in the final third, off of it, they look to be very much in-tune with each other.

Ross the boss

Sooner rather than later, McCrorie is going to have a song in his honour belted out regularly, because there’s just too much to like about the Scot’s game and he’s only made three starts as he works his way back to full fitness. A 90-minute performance is a little bit of a stretch at present, hence his withdrawal on 68 minutes, but when he’s fully up to speed in terms of match fitness and with the pace of the Championship, it’s going to be quite the ride.

It starts with how quickly he makes his way up the field to receive possession and his immediate thought is to attack the space in front of him or take his man on. The way he continually drew Hudson-Odoi or Tavares towards him and then cleverly cut inside before sticking a big Ayrshire arm out to prevent any kind of resistance was a constant theme of the first half.

Yes, on occasion he overplayed it a little, but he doesn’t seem to lack any confidence on the ball and very quickly the Robins have found themselves a new attacking weapon.

He’s a fascinating player to watch in a way because his feet aren’t necessarily quick, and his muscular frame doesn’t lend itself to a particularly nimble player, but whether it’s shifting rapidly from one foot to the other, executing a stepover, or the 360 he delivered on halfway after the break, he just has a certain thrust that then takes him away from defenders.

Like Pring on the left-hand side, his strength in the air also means O’Leary can deliver diagonals high and wide to both sides of the pitch, knowing that both wing-backs will compete and often win the ball, which then sets up attacking positions for Mehmeti or Jason Knight.

Off the ball, he never shirks a tackle and very much gets stuck in. You can almost feel the delight from the Dolman and Lansdown Stand – depending on the half – as he gets through his work.

There are still some rough edges, of course there are, particularly with his final ball but you’d forgive him that because the speed at which he’s adapted a) to the team; b) his teammates, particularly Tanner and Knight on his side of the field; c) Manning’s instructions and d) the overall pace of the game, with two of his four appearances being against Premier League opposition, is incredibly impressive.

When you factor that with the injury hell he’s been through and the impact that must have had on his body and the sheer lack of football he’s played in comparison to pretty much anyone who’s taken to the field against him, we’re struggling a bit for superlatives.

His impact has also aided Tanner’s increasing development as a right-sided centre-back, giving him a more consistent passing option while also providing plenty of defensive cover and the two have struck up a hugely positive understanding, in and out of possession.

Tanner can start to venture forward on the inside right channel, as he did in the second half, with the pitch opening up for him and he drilled in an effort that nearly found its way to Conway.

He’s still playing a little with the shackles around him, as Manning remains mindful around not over-extending his involvement and causing any further injury issues. “He’s one where we still have to be a little bit careful with given how long he missed,” the head coach said.

“He did some terrific things with his intensity and how he drives with the ball. His aggression, terrific, bits I know we’ve spoken about. He’s one that I’m a little bit mindful of still and I thought he started to tire a little bit.”

But sooner rather than later, he’ll be fully released and then the singing can commence.

Managing resources

Manning was proud of the progress his team have shown and while the achievement of holding Forest is something to be cherished, ultimately, hand on heart, he won’t be appreciating another game in the schedule.

January has been relatively kind after a manic December, but February all of a sudden gets very, very hectic. Tuesday’s trip to Coventry City begins a run of seven games inside 25 days with another Friday night kick-off next week against Leeds United. That run also includes trips to Middlesbrough, Sheffield and now Nottingham.

The head coach’s immediate reaction is to highlight the lack of training days now available to him which is basically going to be a mixture of recovery and video preparation, with little time for any truly intensive work. That’ll have to be all conducted during the games themselves.

It’s a pretty brutal run and could fall in their favour if they start to string some wins together but, equally, the strength of the opposition before them makes that even more challenging.

They’re going to have to simply roll from one game to the next, with little, if any, time for reflection. That scenario is, to an extent, the antithesis of what Manning is as a coach in terms of applying his attention to detail around every specific game, and then articulating various instructions and guidance to players in the days leading up to them.

There is precious little time for such preparation but beyond all that, how the head coach manages his resources will be interesting. Over Christmas and into January, from game to game, there have been minimal changes. Indeed this is the run of alterations to the starting XI, from Sunderland on December 16 to last night’s stalemate: 0-1-1-2-2-0-2-2-2.

That has allowed a degree of continuity but also ensured that the team stays fresh, whether it be in body and/or mind. The absences of Joe Williams (suspension) and Scott Twine (cup tied) actually now work in City’s favour because although they were unable to win the game, that duo are immediately fresh for Tuesday’s trip to Coventry and you’d imagine they’d both start.

That can continue his process of rotating his midfielders, which has proved a success story over the winter as while there have been some natural differentials in performance-levels, ultimately the Robins midfield has, at the very least, looked organised and competitive.

Twine means Mehmeti, Knight and Mark Sykes, when he returns hopefully in a fortnight, and who also provides an option on the right, are interchangeable depending on the opponent and their own conditioning.

Conway has been Manning’s go-to guy in attack but even with his powers, it’s hard to see him starting each of the next seven. Nahki Wells, Harry Cornick and potentially even a new striker – should the final days of the window prove productive – will have their moments.

There is little leeway again with the defence, outside of the full-back positions, but Manning speaks with confidence about Rob Atkinson being available soon, albeit after such a devastating injury that he’ll have to be treated with considerable care, and then potentially Kal Naismith might be back towards the end of February.

It’s going to be a real juggling act for the head coach, in striking the balance between form, fitness and freshness all with the need to secure a result. It adds another nuanced dimension to each game over the next few weeks and is a further test of his skills. Perhaps not one he’ll relish as much as others, however.