[6] Youngsters Shane Redmond and James Reid headed out of the City Ground for six-month loans to Burton Albion and Rushden & Diamonds respectively on 7 July.

[9] The Reds then kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 1–0 victory over Portuguese outfit Sporting CP, with Paul Anderson netting the winner in the 79th minute for Forest.

[12] On 21 July a deal was completed to bring back Joel Lynch,[13] who spent a large amount of time on loan at Forest last season.

They continued their spending on the 22nd by bringing in Polish Midfielder Radoslaw Majewski on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy him included.

Three days later was the traditional match between Forest and local rivals Notts County, who has just been taken over by the Munto Finance group.

However, their first home league game of the season ended in a 1–0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion, due to an own goal by Wes Morgan and Robert Earnshaw missed a penalty for Forest.

Forest were looking to beat Derby for the first time since 2003, and they got off to a perfect start when Majewski fired the Reds in front after just 58 seconds.

However Forest were then up against high-flying Blackpool and suffered a 1–0 defeat before going out of the League Cup by the same scoreline to Blackburn Rovers.

In October, Forest moved up to 10th place, their highest position in the Football League since the 2003/04 season, after a 2–1 victory over Darren Ferguson's, Peterborough United.

Lewis McGugan rescued a point with an injury-time equaliser against Cardiff, with Wes Morgan scoring a late goal against Bristol City, who pulled level later in the game.

Forest kick started December with an impressive 5–1 victory over East Midlands rivals Leicester City, including a Robert Earnshaw hat-trick.

Forest then claimed a draw at Sheffield United before going to win at Swansea City and beat Preston at home, Billy Davies' and Paul McKenna's former club who scored the first goal.

Blackstock, Majewski and Cohen all got on the scoresheet as the Reds won 3–1 to help them leap frog West Brom into second place.

The month continued to be good as Forest beat Reading 2–1 and thumped QPR 5–0 at home to help them stay in second place.

However the month ended in disaster as Forest lost away for the first time in the season to local rivals Derby County 1–0.

Two away defeats on the bounce to Coventry City and Doncaster Rovers saw the Reds slip down to third, despite being unbeaten away for the earlier parts of the season.

Home wins against Sheffield United and Middlesbrough saw Forest back up to 3rd but their away form took another blow as they lost to Leicester City 3–0 away.

March began with an injury time winner from Luke Chambers against Swansea City at home saw Forest mount a push to keep the pressure on second placed WBA but away defeats against Preston North End and Barnsley dented these hopes.

A 7th consecutive away defeat, against table topping Newcastle United, saw most fans condemn themselves to the playoffs and West Brom pulled away even further.

April saw Forest gained their first away point in three months against Bristol City thanks to a finish from outside the box from Guy Moussi to draw 1–1.

Forest then got an impressive win against Ipswich at home which saw them qualify for the playoffs, but also meant West Brom gained the final automatic promotion place.

Bradford had lost 5–0 to Forest neighbours Notts County just a few days before and their poor luck continued as they went on to lose 3–0 thanks to goals from Paul Anderson, Dexter Blackstock and Lewis Mcgugan.

Then in the first period of extra time, Polish international Radosław Majewski bagged a winner to send Forest into the Third Round.