Five reasons why there is still hope for Nottingham Forest fans

5) Work rate has returned

While Last Saturday’s match had limited quality at times, one thing that wasn’t missing was immense work rate, and this is something that had been lacking.

Every single player left that pitch having ran themselves into the ground, and while winning was great, it was just as important to see that Forest proved they wouldn’t be losing matches by not wanting it enough anymore.

For those who follow me on Twitter, it’s a well documented fact I can’t stand Jamie Ward.

For me, he’s incredibly predictable and one dimensional, can’t cross, can’t beat a man and has a temperament as shambolic as Fawaz’s reign.

He demonstrated all of that last weekend, but also hustled and harried, battled, didn’t shirk away from anything and ran up and down that left wing like his life depended on it.

Decision to recall Jamie Ward a good one. He’ll bring passion, fight and work rate to an #nffc side sadly lacking in all three at present.

— Lewis Rudd (@Lewis_Rudd_84) January 20, 2017

Quite frankly, summer recruits like Mustapha Carayol – and to a lesser extent, Pajtim Kasami – haven’t been doing that, and instead put in lazy displays, making average or poor performances seem twice as bad.

While it’s been increasingly apparent for some time as to why promotion chasing Derby County were happy to let Ward go on a free, rightly or wrongly, players with his work ethic are what we need if we’re to survive.

Going by last Saturday’s performance, we can expect those levels of effort and more from every player who steps foot onto the pitch, and that’s something worth holding on to.

Hopefully, beyond this season we’ll still have a club to support that isn’t facing oblivion, but what’s key to remember is that we are Forest, not Fawaz.