After an extraordinary 2022, Nottingham Forest must focus on what lies ahead rather than behind. After a dramatic promotion came a plethora of signings and a stuttering start to life in the Premier League to leave them in a relegation battle.

January could define Forest’s 2023, starting with the visit of Chelsea on New Year’s Day. Steve Cooper’s side will then face their relegation rivals Southampton, Leicester and Bournemouth, with a couple of cup ties to break up the league fixtures. In between they will be working to bring in further signings to bolster their squad.

The past 10 days has been a reminder of where Forest have come from: they ended the World Cup break with a thrashing of the Championship side Blackburn in the Carabao Cup but followed it by being eased aside at Manchester United, who made the most of mistakes committed by meek opponents.

The season began with the same 5-2-3 formation that served Cooper so well in the second tier but it was clear that it left them too open, especially while incorporating all the new signings. Since the 4-0 humbling by Leicester at the start of October that almost resulted in Cooper being dispensed with Forest have looked more organised and compact, making them harder to beat while collecting nine points from seven games.

January will see the arrival of a small number of signings but that will mean some being moved out because Forest already have 25 registered players for the Premier League. The Brazilian attacking midfielder Gustavo Scarpa will join on a free from Palmeiras and has already appeared in friendlies during the World Cup break. A defender and central midfielder are the priorities for Cooper and the new sporting director, Filippo Giraldi.

The headline summer signings of Jesse Lingard and Morgan Gibbs-White are still forging a relationship in attack, which may explain Forest having one away league goal this season. Both are doubts for Chelsea’s visit to the City Ground with muscle issues.

Gibbs-White picked up his injury in a friendly against Valencia, while Lingard’s Old Trafford return ended prematurely because of “fatigue in his hamstring”, according to Cooper. Lingard’s right thigh was heavily strapped and his availability may be in doubt. “Jesse walked off the other night and we’re still waiting for that to settle down, in terms of the exact damage, if any at all,” Cooper said.

Scoring goals has been a problem and one that is unlikely to be helped by the potential absence of Lingard and Gibbs-White. Taiwo Awoniyi has four goals at an impressive one every 183 minutes played. Despite his strike rate, he operated from the left wing against Manchester United, while Lingard was in the central role.

Cooper will have to decide soon whether to back Awoniyi as a No 9 and give him a chance to flourish in the role he was used to playing for Union Berlin, or come up with an alternative. In the cup win at Blackburn Awoniyi and Brennan Johnson thrived; there was a thought during the summer to play the two as a partnership up front, which could be an option worth revisiting.

A forward could arrive to bolster options in the final third. In the summer Leeds’ Cyrensio Summerville and Sheffield United’s Iliman Ndiaye were both suggested as signings by the recruitment team but Lingard was acquired by the hierarchy. Summerville and Ndiaye have impressed since but are now out of reach.

As Forest found out, organisational levels need to be matched by concentration to keep out the best teams in the Premier League. Like United, Chelsea have an array of attackers that open up teams and plenty of plans to make opponents look foolish. They looked confident in their victory over Bournemouth, with Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling causing problems for the Cherries at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Forest’s defence will be wary of their threat, albeit Chelsea are likely to be without the injured Mount.

Joe Worrall looks more composed in defence after a rocky start to the season but the return to fitness of Moussa Niakhaté would be a great help to Cooper. The centre-back impressed in his first two games but has not featured since mid-August, while Serge Aurier and Renan Lodi have continued to improve.

There is already a squad capable of staying in the Premier League at the City Ground and a couple of further additions should further boost Forest’s survival hopes. Upsetting Chelsea in front of a raucous home crowd would underscore their value to the club. The Chelsea result will not define Forest’s month but it could change the course of it, on and off the pitch.