Nottingham Forest's frustrating start to the 2021/22 Championship campaign continued on Saturday as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of AFC Bournemouth.
After losing their opening weekend clash to Coventry City in dramatic fashion, the Reds would have been hoping to bounce back at the City Ground.
However, despite the fact that Bournemouth were reduced to ten men in the second-half of this particular showdown, Forest were unable to capitalise as goals from David Brooks and Philip Billing sealed all three points for the visitors.
Set to face Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday, the Reds will be hoping to kick-start their season by delivering a promising performance against Tony Mowbray's side.
With the transfer window set to close at the end of August, it will be intriguing to see whether Chris Hughton decides to bolster his side by drafting in some fresh faces.
Having already swooped for Ethan Horvath, Philip Zinckernagel and Jordi Osei-Tutu, the Championship side are seemingly still in contention to seal a deal for a defender who illustrated some real signs of promise at this level last season.
A report from The Sun journalist Alan Nixon last month revealed that Forest had submitted a second offer for Derby County left-back Lee Buchanan which was subsequently turned down by their arch-rivals.
The 20-year-old made 35 league appearances for the Rams during the previous campaign as he helped them retain their Championship status for another year.
Ahead of Forest's meeting with Blackburn, a fresh update has emerged concerning their transfer pursuit of Buchanan.
According to Nixon, the Reds have seen an improved offer for the defender rejected by Derby.
It is believed that this particular bid (as cited by the Nottingham Post) was in the region of £1.35m plus add-ons which would see the overall amount rise to £2m.
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Although Forest are determined to seal a deal for Buchanan, they could find it difficult to persuade Derby to part ways with one of their prized assets.
Having now had three offers turned down, the Reds may need to draft up a list of alternatives to the Rams man as they are still relatively short of options in this particular position.
With Osei-Tutu currently operating as a makeshift left-back due to Gaetan Bong's suspension, Forest know that a failure to bolster their squad in this area could have a detrimental impact on their fortunes.
Therefore, unless Derby are willing to negotiate a reasonable fee with Hughton's side over Buchanan, the Reds ought to switch their focus to signing another defender who has a proven track-record of delivering the goods at this level.
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