Watch: Forest boss Aitor Karanka says latest signings bring more character but will need time to get up to speed

Watch: Aitor Karanka thinks the new signings will need time to be 100 per cent

Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka says his new signings will bring more character to the squad, both on and off the pitch, but they will need time to get up to speed.

Since the 2-1 loss at Brentford on September 1, the Reds have made three additions to their squad.

The first was Greek international midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis who left Olympiacos and signed a contract the City Ground until 2020.

The second was Argentinian midfielder Claudio Yacob who was signed on a free transfer – he left West Brom at the end of last season having made 160 Premier League appearances in a six year spell after the Baggies were relegated.

The third was Portugese right-back Saidy Yanko who signed on a season-long loan deal from FC Porto.

Those three take the total amount of signings Forest have made this summer to 16 and manager Aitor Karanka is happy the Reds managed to pounce in signing the trio.

Speaking in the pre-match press conference for the Reds’ game on Saturday (September 15) at Swansea, Karanka said: “I’ve always said I was happy with the squad I had after the transfer market.

“But I also said if something appears, we would take advantage of it and with these appearing, it’s good because they’re improving the quality of the squad.

“They’re all good characters both on and off the pitch and we can’t close our eyes if something good comes up.”

Watch: Aitor Karanka on Swansea and his biggest Premier League win

Manager Aitor Karanka has only faced Swansea once before, which was as Middlesbrough boss in the Premier League where Boro won 3-0 on December 17 2016, Karanka’s biggest win in the Premier League.

He said: “At the time we beat them easy but we did not start well – we were playing really bad but then we scored the goal.

“Then the game went the other way and we managed to beat them easily.

“But now this is completely different as we are in the Championship, they are confident and we are trying to find momentum.”

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