BILLY Davies says Nottingham Forest must follow Cardiff City's blueprint for success – after losing out to the Bluebirds' experienced squad.

The injury-ravaged Reds were edged out 2-0 at Ninian Park – despite a brave second-half performance.

But Davies said it was unfair to expect the young squad to cope with the demands of a hectic fixture schedule and still extend their unbeaten run.

And he hopes to be given the opportunity to replicate the work of Cardiff boss Dave Jones who, after four years in charge, has assembled a squad that is now challenging for a place in the Premiership.

"I have been in charge at Forest for a few weeks now and the players have responded brilliantly," said Davies.

"We have picked up some good results against some good sides. But on Saturday we were up against a side, with experienced players, who have spent a lot of money.

"I think what we have to do is look at them and assess how we can get ourselves into a similar position.

"But you can't criticise these players, when you consider the amount of games they have played in the space of a few days.

"It is what we have got at the moment. We are where we are. And we were playing against a side who – and credit to their board for this – have been together for three or four years.

"They have been allowed the time to work together, they have a vastly-experienced squad and can bring on people like Darren Purse and Eddie Johnson onto the pitch off the bench.

"It is not an excuse, it is a fact.

"The fact of the matter is that, if we are to compete at the top end, we have to change and make this squad much, much bigger."

Davies still hopes to make additions today, with Forest pursuing a number of targets in the transfer market.

And he hopes to give himself a few more choices by the time Derby visit the City Ground in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

"It would be nice to freshen things up, it would have been nice to have one or two players to bring in," said Davies. "Unfortunately, we were not in a position to do that. If you look at the side we are set to play on Wednesday, they have something like 39 players in their squad.

"They can freshen up, they can make changes. At the end of the day, they have come down from the Premiership and we came up from the division below.

"We are coming into a difficult Championship and we know it will take time to develop the squad and create the winning mentality that we want.

"I felt that we were holding our own before the goal on Saturday – but we never looked energetic. We looked like a young side with one or two young players who have played one or two too many matches.

"We are asking too much of these players There is no doubt about it, we are asking too much."

Davies felt his players looked tired following a punishing schedule of fixtures – and admits there is no magic cure for the situation ahead of the Derby clash.

"You don't address it – there is not much you can do about it. But I came into the club at the start of January in the full knowledge of what the position here was.

"We took on that challenge and I am happy to do what I can to sort it out."

Forest suffered another blow in the pre-match warm-up, with Arron Davies picking up a calf strain that will see him sidelined for a week or two.

"He pulled his calf in the warm-up and will be missing for a little while now," said Davies.

"But, as I said before, I was under no illusions that this job would be full of ups and downs and headaches.

"We know it is going to be a long season and we are ready for that."