Nottingham Forest host Arsenal at the City Ground on Sunday looking to correct their poor home form

For Oliver Glasner, the solution to one of Nottingham Forest’s most perplexing problems might simply involve keeping schtum.

Home form issue, what home form issue? Don’t know what you are talking about. Nothing to see here. Move along.

It’s worth a go, at least. If every other method has failed, time to deploy a bit of reverse psychology.

After all, Glasner needs to do something ahead of hosting Arsenal this weekend. His team’s record on their own patch in 2026 is dismal, with his predecessors having been unable to turn it around.

But don’t expect the Austrian to talk too much about the Reds’ woes at home. He was asked about the matter last week, in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace, and suggested not drawing attention to the issue could be the best way forward.

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“It's my experience, if you always talk about the problem, you make it bigger and bigger,” Glasner explained. “It's not just in football or in your job, it's in your life. Sometimes it's the best thing to ignore it.

“When I came to Palace, there was a big issue that they conceded so many goals in the last 15 minutes of games. People were saying the players aren’t fit because they concede so many goals.

“The first game, we won 3-0 against Burnley, who had an early red card. We then played Tottenham, lost 3-1, conceded two goals in the last 15 minutes. And then we played Luton at home. We were 1-0 up, then conceded a goal in the 94th minute.

“Of course you can imagine what kind of questions were asked. It was all about this topic and people saying the players aren't fit. What are you doing? I said: ‘We don't talk about it anymore.’

“It was deep in the head. I think after the 75th minute, even the players looked at the watch and thought, ‘ah, now the last 15 minutes’. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“Maybe it's the same here, so not talking about winning but focusing on what to do, just play football. Sometimes, thinking in best and worst case scenarios, I think it can't be getting even worse, so just play.”

It was April 19 when the Reds last won at the City Ground in the Premier League. That 4-1 triumph over relegated Burnley remains their sole home league win in 10 months.

The Forest faithful have had precious little to cheer on the banks of the Trent. This season, there hasn’t even been a goal for them to celebrate as their team has drawn a blank in each of their opening four fixtures in all competitions.

The Reds are the only side in the top flight yet to find the back of the net at home - albeit VAR has played a part in that. They are one of only six teams still to register a victory at their own stadium, with Liverpool, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham the others.

According to statmuse, at home Forest have an xG (expected goals) of 3.47 having amassed 48 shots, with seven on target. On the road, their xG stands at 8.11 courtesy of 58 shots, with 16 on target.

When he spoke after the 1-0 defeat to Coventry City before the international break, Glasner referenced the “heaviness of the past” weighing on his players. He insisted that comment wasn’t just about Forest’s City Ground struggles but was also a reflection of the turbulence of last term, although he did additionally mention a sense of nervousness around the stadium.

“Not just the home record,” he said at the time. “The negative home record is maybe the consequence of this.

“When you are fighting the entire season, more or less, against not getting relegated, things happen. I think we all know this from our life. When things happen in the past, and then maybe a similar situation comes, you remember these things.

“They are human beings. And that's why I feel they want this win, and sometimes when you want things too much, they don't happen.”

How to lift that weight and how to stop his charges from trying too hard, those are the challenges facing Glasner ahead of this weekend. And all while preparing to face the reigning champions.

Perhaps there will be less of a sense of expectation surrounding the hosts when Arsenal come to town on Sunday (4.30pm kick-off). After all, Mikel Arteta’s men are a different proposition to newly-promoted Coventry.

Forest typically tend to raise their game for clashes such as this, particularly when it comes to the Gunners. In the four City Ground meetings between the teams since the Reds’ promotion, they have lost just once.

The 1-0 victory over Arsenal that clinched survival in 2023 remains the stuff of legend, while the last two fixtures in the East Midlands have finished 0-0. If Glasner’s side can pull off another famous result this time around, it could be the turning point they need Trentside.