Nottingham Forest will be desperate to provide their supporters with something to shout about this weekend in their clash with arch-rivals Derby County.

A dismal start to the 2021/22 campaign has resulted in the Reds suffering five defeats in all competitions.

Particularly poor in-front of goal in their two most recent match-ups with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City, Forest failed to register a shot on target in either of these clashes.

Although the season is still in its infancy, a failure to deliver the goods against Derby could have a profound impact on the future of Reds manager Chris Hughton.

Tasked with transforming the club's fortunes last year, the 62-year-old has struggled to build up any momentum at the City Ground.

During the current transfer window, Hughton has opted to draft in four players as Philip Zinckernagel, Jordi Osei-Tuti, Ethan Horvath and James Garner have sealed moves to the club.

Not content with these aforementioned arrivals, the Forest boss was recently linked with a move for winger Paul Mukairu.

A report from Nexus Sport earlier this week suggested that the Reds were set to complete a deal for the 21-year-old who recently returned to Turkish side Antalyaspor following a loan spell with Anderlecht.

During his time in Belgium, Mukairu helped Vincent Kompany's side secure a fourth place finish in the Jupiler Pro League by providing six direct goal contributions in 25 appearances in this division.

In a fresh update concerning Mukairu's future, it has now been revealed that recent reports regarding Forest's pursuit were wide of the mark.

According to Turkish news outlet Ajansspor, Antalyaspor have rejected a €2.3m (£1.96m) bid by Forest for the winger.

It is understood that the club are holding out for a fee believed to be in the region of €3m (£2.5m) whilst they are also seeking a 25% sell-on clause.

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

This is unquestionably a setback for Forest as time is now running out for the club to complete deals.

Considering that Antalyaspor are looking to secure a bigger fee for Mukairu, it will be intriguing to see whether the Reds do indeed decide to step up their pursuit.

As well as averaging a relatively impressive WhoScored match rating of 6.89 in the Jupiler Pro League for Anderlecht last season, the Nigerian also ranked in the top-five at the club for successful dribbles per game (2.4).

Although it may take some time for Mukairu to adapt to life in the Championship due to the fact that he has never played at this level before, he clearly possesses the potential to become a classy operator and thus Forest ought to consider taking a risk on him if they are indeed looking to bolster their options in this particular position.

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