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Former Nottingham Forest star Stan Collymore has explained why he believes the East Midlands club will end up in mid-table this season.

Nottingham Forest head into the new Premier League season under a new manager after spending the previous campaign battling relegation from start to finish.

Forest started last season with Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm, then went through Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche before eventually moving clear of the relegation zone under Vitor Pereira.

This summer, owner Evangelos Marinakis decided to part ways with Pereira and bring in Oliver Glasner, who enjoyed a highly successful spell at Crystal Palace, winning the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League.

Even with that appointment, some bookmakers have still backed Forest to go down, believing the repeated changes around the club could unsettle them again.

That view has been firmly rejected by Forest legend Stan Collymore, who feels the side are capable of finishing far higher up the table.

When asked whether appointing Glasner could turn out to be Marinakis’ best decision in recent years, Collymore said: “It could prove to be his most impactful.

“Seeing bookmakers list Forest among the favourites for relegation seems wildly inaccurate based on their squad depth. Unless there’s internal friction between Glasner and the hierarchy, the team operates at an eighth to 10th-place standard.

“Glasner is a proven manager who’s won trophies across Europe. Retaining Morgan Gibbs-White gives them a strong core. Forest have the framework to compete around the European positions rather than lingering near the bottom of the table.”

Gibbs-White was a target for Tottenham Hotspur last summer, but he instead signed a new three-year contract with Forest.

“He is on a strong contract at Forest, and Evangelos Marinakis views him as their cornerstone player,” said Collymore.

“His performance levels last season were exceptional. Aston Villa evaluated him before opting for Johan Manzambi – viewing Manzambi as a dynamic 20-year-old profile who carried the ball well on the European stage for Freiburg.

“At 26, Gibbs-White is in his prime. Early in his career, scouts might have viewed him as a player whose standard fluctuated between a nine out of 10 and a four out of 10, depending on his defensive work rate.

“However, he addressed those defensive tracking metrics over the course of last season. He has the technical quality to feature for any top six side.”