GIVEN that they possess one of football's more vocal managers, Nottingham Forest fans are unlikely to need telling that they possess one of the smaller squads in the Championship.

But a quick glance at the back of Saturday's match programme only served to illustrate Billy Davies' point.

Norwich City, a team newly-promoted from League One, whose aspirations amount to little more than acclimatising themselves back at this level of the game, have eight more players to call upon than Nottingham Forest.

Prior to them, Leeds United had seven more names on their list of players and, in pre-season, Olympique Lyonnais boasted a hefty ten more members in their squad, as they prepare for Champions League football.

Among the 23 players listed under the Forest banner is Paul Smith, who has been told he has no future at the City Ground and the likes of Brendan Moloney, Matt Thornhill and Joel Lynch, who have been little more than peripheral figures in the past.

In essence, if they fail to make new additions before tomorrow's transfer deadline, Forest will be attempting to forge a second consecutive promotion push with a core of just 18 senior players, plus rookie keeper Karl Darlow.

And, of those, three could be on the long-term injury list, with Paul Anderson having tweaked his medial ligaments on Saturday, David McGoldrick expected to be out for another two months with a shoulder problem and Garath McCleary suffering tendonitis.

When viewed in those terms, the next 24 hours before the transfer window closes are going to be hugely significant over the coming months.

But, while he admits that Forest's players will be keeping a keen eye on events in the coming hours, Dexter Blackstock is also remaining calm.

Because, while the striker says he would welcome new additions, he also believes that Forest would be fine without them.

"The squads on the back of the programme are always bigger than ours," said Blackstock. "Every week you look at the programme, home or away, and that is normally the case.

"We are used to seeing that now. But sometimes that can work in your favour. You have a core of good players that you use and don't really rotate that much.

"If we get a run of injuries, we might be in trouble. But you could say that about most teams.

"It is just a case of moving forward. If we get players in, it would be great. If we don't, then we will move on.

"It can pull everyone together, having a small squad, because everyone knows they are going to be involved, normally.

"If can work in your favour. If you have strength in depth, you know you have players to come into the side, I suppose.

"But it is about getting the balance. We would welcome new signings – as long as they are quality players.

"There is no point in bringing players in just for the sake of it, they have to be players who are going to improve the squad, not just add numbers to it.

"And it is hard to sign players who are going to improve a side that did so well last year.

"There are players out there, I am sure. I am sure Billy Davies and the board are working hard on that."

Finding those players and actually signing them are two different propositions, as Blackstock concedes.

Forest have conducted a very public courtship of Cardiff's Peter Whittingham and Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley all summer.

But signing players with the quality to improve an already impressive Forest squad is not always easy.

"You are trying to sign players who are the prize assets of your rivals or you are going to Premier League clubs and trying to persuade them to let players go," said Blackstock.

"I am sure the club are looking to add quality to the side. Whether they do it or not before the deadline is another thing.

"But, either way, we will just get on with things. We will work with what we have got, which is already a strong squad.

"New faces always give the place a lift at any club. But do we need it? Is it really essential?

"We have the core of the squad that got us to third place last season still here.

"You take away Perchy, who was not always part of the main squad last season, and it is still the same squad.

"If we get players in, great. If we do not, then we will persevere with the squad we have got and that is not a bad situation."

So far, Forest have yet to collect a win, following four Championship games.

And, while they were not at their best on Saturday, against Norwich, Blackstock insists there is no cause for panic just yet.

"We would like to have more points on the board, there is no doubt about that," he said. "Performance wise, we have done well in every game. We could easily have won many of the games.

"We would like to have more points – but there is still such a long way to go this season.

"It is not even worth panicking over. It is a work in progress and we will get stronger.

"Now we have the international break and we will have a much needed rest, because we did not look fully sharp on Saturday.

"We welcome the break and we will come back even stronger, whether we have new additions or not."

One way or another, when Millwall visit the City Ground in a few weeks time, the back of the programme will make for interesting reading.