LAST August, Ryan Bertrand made his Reading debut in a fiercely contested 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest.

Today, he returns to the Madejski for the first time as a Forest player, with very different intentions.

But his memories of an 'enjoyable' season at Reading, only fuel his belief that this weekend can herald a new era for Billy Davies' side.

That draw was the first of eight home games without a win for Reading, as they made a stuttering start to the season.

And, as Forest look to avoid extending a run of their own, by recording a 13th straight away game without a win, the on-loan Chelsea man hopes the memory of that start could work in the Reds' favour.

"We had a similar run without a win at Reading when I was there, only it was at home where we struggled," said Bertrand. "We could not win a home game for a long time, at the start of the season.

"We eventually won to break the duck and then went unbeaten at the Madejski for a long time.

"And, hopefully the same can happen for Forest now. If we can get that first away win, hopefully we can go on an unbeaten run again, like the team did previously.

"But the first target is to get that win.

"And, if we make a good start there, if we can get on top early on, who knows how the Reading fans would react?

"I guess their minds will have been settled a little bit by the run of home form that they put together.

"But the home crowd still expects their team to win.

"And, if we can go ahead or put them under pressure, perhaps the fans will start to get a little agitated.

"That could work to our benefit, if we can get them thinking about the start they made last season."

And Bertrand believes it is vital for Forest to build a good run of form away from home if they are to establish the foundations of a promotion push.

"Your home form is always vital. Any successful side should be looking to win a good 80% of their home games," said Bertrand.

"But the away form can make a huge difference too.

"How you do away can make the difference between a side that challenges for the play-offs or one that pushes for automatic promotion."

The full-back warns that Forest will not face an easy task at the Madejski, however.

"I think they are a very good side, we should not underestimate them," he said.

"What is important is that we concentrate on ourselves and on our game.

"If we go out there and do what we can, we can get the right result.

"I am very positive about our chances this season, you can see that just from the performances that we have produced.

"You can tell that there is quality, I feel hopeful that we will be up there come the end of the season."

Bertrand admits it has only been this week that he has begun to feel at home at Forest – mainly because it is the first time he has spent any length of time with his new team mates.

"It has taken a bit of time to settle in, in a strange way," he said.

"I arrived the day before the opening game at Burnley, then I went away with the England under-21s.

"I felt like I was a bit up in the air to begin with, because it was all such a rush.

"But I have had a couple of days training with the lads this week now and that has been really helpful.

"The longer I am around the rest of the lads, the quicker I can settle in.

"It is just one of those things, you have to crack on with it and try to get used to your new surroundings."

Bertrand says Forest cannot get overly concerned about their failure to beat Burnley or, last Sunday, Leeds at the City Ground.

"The results have not been what we would have wanted, because we have deserved a lot more than we have got from the last two games," he said.

"But it is all positive around here, the boys are more than confident that, if we keep working and applying ourselves right, the results will come.

"There is no cause for panic just yet, there are still more than 40 games left.

"There are certain teams up there at the top of the table now who might be getting carried away with the start they have made.

"But time will tell. We are not reading too much into the situation we are in so far.

"That first win would settle us down and give us even more confidence. But we have to be patient and believe it will come if we do the right things.

"It worked at Reading and it will work now."