DEFEAT on Saturday would have represented Nottingham Forest's worst start to a season in 39 years.

A point from a 1-1 draw with Norwich City helped them to avoid that indignity.

But the blunt, unimaginative display was not enough to gloss over the flat, dispirited mood that currently grips the City Ground, which, only a few short months ago, was awash with optimism and hope.

This was as poorly as Forest have played under Billy Davies for some time, as only the width of the post and the acrobatics of Lee Camp denied the visitors the result their fluid performance had merited.

And while Norwich, a team with modest ambitions following their rise from League One, continue to defy expectation, Forest continue to look like a side who are failing to build on their own successes of last season.

Davies will point to the fact that the season is only four games old.

But he is also doing a bad job of hiding his frustration over some familiar complaints on and off the field.

On it, some lacklustre defending again cost Forest dear, this time as Andrew Crofts was allowed the space to lift a clever, improvised shot that broke Camp's steely resolve and earned the Canaries a 42nd-minute equaliser.

Off it, tomorrow's transfer window deadline looms on the horizon without any real suggestion that players will be brought in.

The suggestion, from chief executive Mark Arthur, was that Forest will not make signings for the sake of it, merely to placate supporters; that only quality additions will be made, rather than just players to bulk up the squad.

But it is not just the supporters' ambition that needs to be satisfied in the next 24 hours, but more significantly that of a manager and a team that came so close to earning a place at the top table last season.

Forest may currently find themselves in 19th place in the table, just a point away from being in the bottom three.

As last season demonstrated, that is hardly too significant, given the Reds' habit of starting slowly and surging into life.

And they are still a club with the foundations of a squad capable of pushing for a place in the top flight.

But, as Saturday again demonstrated, they are far from the finished article.

Davies' continues to talk of 'three to five' stellar signings, but, in reality, one or two – particularly if they came in the form of Darren Pratley and Peter Whittingham – would be enough to change the picture dramatically.

Not merely to address the startling lack of depth in the squad – which could see them reduced to just 16 senior players, if injury problems with Paul Anderson and Garath McCleary prove to be as bad as feared – but merely, to steal another Davies' mantra, to provide a demonstration of intent.

If not for their steely determination to bag a good deal, to not waver on the valuations put on players by the acquisitions panel, Forest might have signed Pratley back in January.

Had they been willing to go that extra mile, they could possibly have signed both him and Whittingham already this summer.

That much can only be speculated on. But what is certain is that what they do in the next 24 hours will absolutely shape the rest of the season.

Because their resources are already being stretched to the limit, with the season only a few weeks old.

In a perfect reflection of what happened in the play-offs, Paul McKenna, who had not trained properly all week due to a hamstring injury, was nevertheless drafted into the side by Davies, who was acutely aware of the leadership and guidance he provides to this young side.

And the skipper's performance was one of a man not at peak fitness or match sharpness, as he continually gave the ball away with stray passes.

That hardly justified the reaction of some supporters, who remarkably jeered when he was substituted in the second half, however.

His importance to the side can be demonstrated by the downturn in results when he was absent through injury during the final months of the last campaign.

He may not boast the crowd-pleasing skilful trickery and guile of Lewis McGugan or cultivate the image of a continental star by wearing his socks up over his knees like Radi Majewski, but a Forest side without McKenna is one without a heartbeat.

He is, as Eric Cantona famously described Didier Deschamps, Forest's water carrier.

He does the ugly work that allows Forest's more creative influences to do what they do best.

But, with McGugan yet to fulfil his potential and Majewski and Guy Moussi looking short of form, it is in midfield that Forest look to be in most need of the driving force that Pratley would provide.

On the evidence of Saturday's display, the creativity and cutting edge of Whittingham would not go amiss either, following a second half when, with the exception of yet another Robert Earnshaw shot that hit the post, Forest failed to properly threaten John Ruddy's goal.

It took a soft penalty, albeit confidently converted by Dexter Blackstock, to put Forest ahead in the 35th minute, after Anderson had gone down under a challenge from Russell Martin.

Other than that, it was Camp who was the busier of the keepers, making smart saves to deny Korey Smith and former Forest man Grant Holt, while Chris Martin was denied twice by the woodwork.

Today, Davies, his players and thousands of fans wait with bated breath, in the hope of seeing new signings.

If they arrive, the mood when Millwall visit the City Ground could be very different.

If they do not, Davies' task will be to build another promotion push with one of the smallest squads in the Championship.

And, while he may have a record of achieving the impossible in the past, that may be beyond even him.