Forest’s third-most shots are not enough, Glasner warns

Nottingham Forest rank third in Premier League shots, but Oliver Glasner says the number matters only if the team creates better opportunities and turns them into points. Forest’s head coach has challenged his players to improve their shot quality and increase their big chances ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace.

Forest have won away at Aston Villa and drawn with Liverpool at Anfield. They will look to make it a third consecutive unbeaten away game against Palace, after Glasner said matches away from the City Ground had offered his side more freedom and produced different results.

The contrast with home games against Leeds and Coventry has been sharper. Glasner described those matches as “wilder than structured”, pointing to the opponents’ direct, physical approach and balls played in behind. Forest ran out of time to recover in those games, he said, and need better answers against teams that play that way.

“It’s a Premier League game we want to win,” Glasner said of the Palace fixture. “We’ve shown very good away form this year, and this is what we want to show again.”

The shots tally is one of several encouraging early-season indicators for Forest. Glasner also praised the team’s consistency in defence, but made clear that positive rankings are not a result in themselves. Forest need to be more selective about where they shoot from and create more clear chances if their attacking volume is to carry greater weight.

“There are many positive signals from the stats; we’re very consistent in defence, and we’ve had the third-most shots,” he said. “But we could have done better. We need to improve the quality of the shots, where we are shooting from and the number of big chances we’re creating.”

That is the gap Glasner wants Forest to close: the underlying signs are positive, but the team must make them count on the scoreboard. The Palace match offers an immediate test of their away form and their ability to convert attacking activity into points.