Nottingham Forest have made excellent use of the loan market this season. Djed Spence, James Garner, Philip Zinckernagel and Max Lowe have all been key players during the campaign.

The most recent loanee to arrive at the City Ground has been Keinan Davis from Aston Villa. When Forest went into the January transfer window, thoughts of Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun and Orlando City’s Daryl Dike seeped through to fans.

With loan strikers from the Premier League to the Championship such as Rhian Brewster being such a success, it’s clear to see why many second tier fans saw the appeal.

Brewster made 20 starts for Swansea whilst on loan from Liverpool, finding the back of the net ten times in the Championship.

Daryl Dike also set lofty standards in the Championship last season by scoring nine goals in 21 appearances for Barnsley whilst on loan from Orlando City.

When Middlesbrough agreed a loan deal for Folarin Balogun and West Brom acquired Daryl Dike on a permanent basis this January, Forest fans voiced concerns about their investment in Aston Villa’s Keinan Davis.

With a total of three goals over 73 appearances for Aston Villa – split between the Premier League and Championship – fans questioned what the striker would bring to the team.

In 502 minutes of game time at Nottingham Forest, it’s become noticeably clear what the 23-year-old brings – particularly in recent games against Barnsley, Cardiff, Leicester, and Blackburn.

Davis scored his first goal in the Garibaldi red during a 3-0 win at home to Barnsley three weeks ago, setting the tone for a relatively comfortable night for Forest at the City Ground.

His tenacity to dispossess the last defender Mads Andersen, then power through the centre and finish confidently demonstrated more layers to his game than the attributes that were already made clear upon his arrival.

The strength, fast footwork, aerial ability, determination to get into battles and pace that was shown in the games against Arsenal, Millwall and Derby had been boosted by an ability to score as well – Forest fans’ main priority.

It was Davis’ presence that, you could argue, was what Forest were missing against Cardiff. That argument can be backed up by the fact that Davis came off the bench to score his second goal in as many games to earn the Reds a consolation in a 2-1 loss at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Though the forward was only on the bench due to illness, it still felt like Forest were lacking that power and unpredictability in the forward lines before Davis came on to powerfully head the ball in during added time.

“He can look after the ball, he can take players on,” Steve Cook stated about the Aston Villa loanee. “I do not think there are many players with his size and strength, who can travel with the ball like he does. He has nice feet. He is a threat aerially and on the grass. He can take our team to another level. The attacking threat we have now is really strong.”

While others were looking at relighting fires and moving in on the likes of Balogun and Dike, Steve Cooper and Dane Murphy had their sights set on Keinan Davis before the January transfer window opened. Davis was announced on the first day of 2022 and settled in just how Steve Cooper wanted.

“Keinan has brought into how we are trying to play and train. He has settled in really well. When you observe him around the training ground, you can see that he looks comfortable,” says Cooper.

“He is 100 per cent an asset, particularly in this league — pace and power are always a threat. But he is a really good footballer as well. He has a good left foot; he handles the ball well and can carry it. He has good technical ability. He has strong physical ability. But that just supports everything else. It is good to be working with him.”

With top-goalscorer Lewis Grabban injured, Lyle Taylor out on loan and Sam Surridge just dipping his toes in the water – a lot of responsibility has fallen on Keinan Davis’ shoulders in recent games.

After discovering that Davis can score confidently with a neat finish against Barnsley and a storming header against Cardiff, it has been interesting to see that the loanee can assist in similar fashion.

Again, it was Davis who set the tone in the 4-1 thrashing of Leicester in the FA Cup, leaping to power a header into the path of Philip Zinckernagel who put the ball in the back of the net to start the goalscoring.

Moreover, Davis’ assist against Blackburn was something special. Brice Samba lofted the ball to Davis who comfortably took the ball down on his chest. After taking on three separate players in his own half, he surged towards the Blackburn goal only to be illegally brought down, get back up instantly, and lay the ball off to James Garner who scored the first goal in a 2-0 win.

Many players would have picked the ball up for a free kick. However, Keinan Davis created a goal, which became his fourth goal involvement in as many games.

Though it is important to note that Keinan Davis only has six appearances in the Championship so far this season, it is still impressive to see that the forward has the third best scoring frequency in the Nottingham Forest team based on minutes (182).

With that, Davis also has the most shots on target per game (0.8) which should dull down Forest fans’ worries that he can’t find the target.

It is also refreshing to see that within his minimal time as a Forest player, Davis has 1.3 key passes per game, with only James Garner (1.7) having a better key pass per game rate at Forest. Davis has also created two big chances since arriving at Forest and boasts a 77% pass rate.

As previously mentioned, Davis is exceptional at powering through a defence with the ball at his feet. The 23-year-old has completed 2.7 dribbles per game since arriving, more than any other Forest player this season. Davis also boasts an 89% success rate when dribbling – higher than any forward players in the Forest squad.

Though it may be unfair to compare Davis’ numbers with the rest of the Forest squad due to minimal game time, those numbers indicate that the striker is an excellent all-round forward addition.

With the Forest fans voicing concerns upon Keinan Davis’ acquisition, a poll was put out on social media to ask how Forest fans feel about the striker now.

A total of 751 Forest fans voted, with an impressive 94% voting that Davis is ‘hugely important’, signifying just how much Davis has stored faith in the fans already. A mere 4% voted that Davis is ‘not bad’, a minuscule 1% voted ‘better strikers out there’ while 1% voted ‘other (comment)’.

#NFFC fans!

For a piece I’m writing, how do we feel about Keinan Davis?

— Callum Castel-Nuovo (@callumcasteln) February 10, 2022

“I think most are so happy because it’s been a bit of a surprise. We weren’t quite sure what we were getting, but it just underlines how good Cooper’s signings have been, and how much we should trust the manager. Davis has been absolutely fantastic,” says one fan.

“A good get and has plenty of potential especially now he’s getting regular game time,” stated another fan.

With such a large number of fans responding so positively about the importance of Keinan Davis already, it is clear that the forward has silenced most of the critics in a very short space of time. Two goals and two assists in eight games has certainly helped.

When compared to the big money Middlesbrough are reportedly paying Folarin Balogun (£40k+ a week salary plus agent fees) and West Brom spending a reported £7.5m on Daryl Dike, with two goal involvements from both strikers combined (and a long-term injury to Dike), it suggests that all along, Forest made the correct decision to not waste time in bringing Keinan Davis to the City Ground.

*Article provided by Callum Castel (Nottingham Forest Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC Keinan Davis has been a huge Forest hit since his loan move.