Davies: Boyd has so much more to come at Forest

BILLY Davies believes George Boyd will grow in stature with Nottingham Forest, once he becomes accustomed to the fierce work ethic he demands from his players.

The manager was pleased with the midfielder's debut against Swansea, following his arrival on loan from Peterborough.

Boyd (pictured) twice came close to scoring in the first half, as the Reds secured a vital win to bolster their promotion hopes.

But Davies believes there is more to come from the 24-year-old, once he has acclimatised to life at the City Ground.

"He did well on Saturday," said Davies. "But I am sure that George Boyd, on Saturday night, will have sat back and realised how we want to play here.

"There is a big work ethic at this club. We put great demands on our players. There is a great discipline required to be a top-half team in this division.

"He will understand that there is a different way of playing here. We need to get him sharper and fitter and up to the speed of what we are trying to do. But that will come."

The win lifted Forest back up into second place in the Championship table, pushing West Brom back down into third place.

But with the Baggies back in action tonight, playing the game in hand they hold over Forest against Sheffield Wednesday at the Hawthorns, Davies says the Reds will not get too carried away.

"I have said before that the highs and lows of the Championship are always there for everyone to see," he said.

"Saturday was a huge three points for us and it now means we go into in the next two games with confidence. We will give it our best shot.

"But I can't get excited about going second in the table again. Whether we slip to fifth in the table or whether we are second or third, it doesn't matter at the minute.

"All that matters is that we just keep ticking the games off and not make too much of a fuss.

"There are lots of points to play for and things will fluctuate. There is no doubt about it. Look at the results last weekend."

But Davies did concede that the advantage Forest now hold over fourth-placed Swansea is significant.

"That eight-point gap we have on Swansea is huge. It was a huge result, because we have also clawed back three points on Leicester as well," he said.

"But, at the same time, it just ticks off another game."