Nottingham Forest fans fear relegation as ‘serious’ issue is exposed in Fenerbahce clash
Nottingham Forest fans now fear the worst in their ongoing relegation battle despite their 4-2 aggregate victory over Fenerbahce.
Despite a bit of a scare, the Reds managed to hold out and even pulled a goal back thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi to lose just 2-1 on the night at the City Ground.
However, for many of the home fans, the performance highlighted a massive problem regarding Forest’s depth, as many of the stars on the pitch struggled.
Vitor Pereira made seven changes to the side that narrowly lost against Liverpool on the weekend, and these players almost blew a 3-0 lead.
Now, fans are concerned that Forest’s depth could take them down, with it becoming clear that many are not up to standard.
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It has become clear this season that if Forest play their best starting XI, they are capable of pulling off some fantastic performances and results.
This was evident last week as they blew away Fenerbahce 3-0 in Turkey to get Pereira off to a winning start.
However, that quality was completely amiss at the City Ground on Thursday, as they were completely undone for large periods.
As a result, many Forest fans have now pointed to this reason as to why the club are still in serious danger of being relegated from the Premier League.
#nffc First XI top half PL team, Second XI relegation certs.
— Matthew Swallow (@TheSwallow7) February 26, 2026
I genuinely fear relegation now. Squad depth is too weak and we can’t score enough ! Hope I’m wrong #nffc @NFFC
— WJ (@TheCityGround1) February 26, 2026
3 of the last 4 seasons we’ve been fighting relegation in the PL, 2 of them it felt like we had a fighting chance even with a points deducion, this season definitely feels like we’re relying on other teams being worse than us. #NFFC
— RichardM8422 (@RichardM8422) February 26, 2026
Our first 11 is prem quality, but we lack goals. We lack serious quality off the bench and that will be what relegates us.
— Karl Booth (@get_your_knives) February 26, 2026
That first half against a crap fenerbache just shows how we lack depth #NFFC
Tonight has shown why we will go down. You can’t trust our subs if we’re 1-0 up against Brighton. The only player you could trust is Cunha. You can’t trust Lucca, McAtee anyone else, which means we’ll lose games. #nffc
— Nathan (@Nathan_NFFC06) February 26, 2026
Another reminder of the lack of depth tonight. Outside of Cunha, very few did their standing any good and the Murillo left back experiment is hopefully over. Still, we’re through and that’s all that matters. Onto Brighton. #nffc
— Callum Dodsley (@GrapsTalk) February 26, 2026
#nffc
— Just a 54 year old from Nottinghamshire (@ENG2Stars1Day) February 26, 2026
Rubbish tonight. Squeezed through against a poor side.
Another game in which the lack of depth of the squad has been laid bare for all to see. What awful recruitment!
Andy Reid: It was a tough watch in the first half
As a result of their poor first-half display, Pereira made four changes at half-time to bring Forest back into the game.
While they did concede again shortly after the break through a contentious penalty, this did help regain a foothold on the match.
However, this does not eradicate just how poor the hosts were in the first half, as they struggled to lay a glove on the Turkish side.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on 26 February, Andy Reid was quick to point out just how poor the Reds were in the first half.
He said: “It was a tough watch at times, particularly in the first half, but the changes were good changes – although Fenerbache got the second goal, they started to regain control and Hudson-Odoi scored a really good goal.
“It drained the life out of Fenerbache, and they were in control for the rest of the game.”