NOTTINGHAM Forest must rediscover their defensive resolve away from home, Dexter Blackstock said today.

The Reds have now notched up 13 games without victory away from the City Ground.,

But, prior to that, they had been unbeaten in 16 games on their travels, as a remarkable run of form firstly helped them avoid relegation at the end of the 2008/09 campaign, before establishing them among the promotion contenders last season.

Forest conceded only ten goals during that spell.

And, following a weekend when they again – as they had done at Burnley – conceded an uncharacteristically soft goal to gift Reading the lead at the Madejski Stadium, Blackstock hopes they can rediscover the winning habit.

"If we can get back to being solid and hard to break down, we know we have players in the forward areas who can do damage," he said.

"We need to be solid defensively and build from there.

"If we can do that, we can get back to the kind of away form we had for long periods last season.

"At least, that should be our aim. Last season we were always solid at the back; always difficult to break down.

"That provided a solid foundation and can do so again."

And Blackstock believes the events of last season, which also saw Forest make the City Ground a fortress in the second half of the campaign, should give them confidence.

"As a team we played very well through the whole season," he said. "We were very solid at home in particular and broke lots of records.

"What more could you ask? We were unlucky towards the end. But we have a young squad who will have gained a valuable year of experience.

"They will be better for that and we will give it a real good go this time as well."