Nottingham Forest’s return to European football has meant domestic consistency has proved harder to find, says Nottingham Post correspondent Sarah Clapson, as Sean Dyche’s side prepare to face Brentford on Sunday (2pm kick-off), live on Sky Sports.

Currently 17th in the Premier League after 22 games, Forest have struggled to replicate last season’s success, with managerial changes, a busy summer of recruitment, and the added demands of European competition.

This has contributed to an up-and-down campaign that leaves them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Nottingham Forest are 17th in the Premier League after 22 games. How would you sum up their season to date?

It has not panned out as expected, would be one way of putting it. Forest started the season with a lot of optimism and hoping to kick on from last season, when they finished seventh and got into Europe for the first time in a long time.

This season, they are back to looking over their shoulders and in the middle of a relegation battle. So, it has not quite gone the way they thought it would. It has been challenging: three managers, a lot of new signings in the summer, a lot of change, and a lot of obstacles to overcome.

It has been a difficult season, but the win over West Ham recently was a big one, and Forest have shown in some games under Sean Dyche what they are capable of in beating Liverpool and beating Tottenham, for example.

Finding consistency has been the problem for them. They have been up and down a little bit, and you never know which Forest side is going to turn up. That is something they need to put right in the second half of the season.

Do you think the added load and extra games that come with qualifying for Europe has played a part in where they are in the Premier League currently?

It was three decades since the club last played in Europe, so it is something new for the club.

Some of the players have played at different levels of European competition before, so they did have some experience there but, in terms of managing the games and the schedule, that is something Forest have had to get used to.

They bought a lot of players in the summer to try to get that strength in depth and make sure they had enough cover in different positions, but some of the signings have not really made the impact it was hoped they would yet.

It has been tricky, but that is what the club wanted. They wanted that challenge, they wanted to be in Europe, they wanted those extra games, they wanted the test that came with competing against some of the big clubs on the continent.

The fans love it as well, getting to travel to different places and have that European adventure. It has been a whole generation since Forest fans have been able to experience that. So it has been a challenge, but I guess it is something that has also been relished at the same time.

Their fortunes in Europe have been contrasting to those in the Premier League; at the time of speaking, Forest are just two points outside the Europa League top eight. Are there hopes that they can go deep in that competition?

They will hope to. Forest are out of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, so the two main priorities are to stay in the Premier League and to do well in Europe.

The main priority is staying in the Premier League; Sean Dyche has made it clear that that has to be at the forefront of their minds.

In Evangelos Marinakis, they have an ambitious owner who wants to do well in Europe, who wants to be in these kinds of competitions every season, so they will want to give it a really good go.

They have got a good chance of progressing to the knockout stages, but whether that is by getting a place in the top eight is still in the balance at the moment.

They will certainly have hopes of doing that and trying to go as far as they can.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for on Sunday?

It has been up and down in terms of performance. Players, individually and collectively, have struggled for consistency.

The main man for much of the season has been Elliot Anderson. He has had a dip in form lately and he has not been at his best in recent games, but everybody knows the quality he has and what he can do.

He is now a regular for England and he has the World Cup to aim for at the end of the season. He can be a real driver for Forest - and he has been.

Anderson is not necessarily somebody who is going to get a lot of goals - that is an area he needs to work on still - but he can really set the tone. He is capable of picking the pass and getting Forest on the front foot.

He is a really key figure and somebody Forest need to play well. They need to get him back to the levels that he has shown previously.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

Sean Dyche has stuck with a similar formation for much of his tenure so far - he has gone with a 4-2-3-1. It is very much a Sean Dyche style of football, generally, as you got used to seeing at his previous clubs.

Forest have played some good football under him in spells: the Liverpool game, against Porto, and against Spurs.

But he has very much tried to focus on keeping them tight at the back, making sure they are solid and getting back to what they were good at last season in not conceding many goals and being a really tight defensive unit. There is still a bit of work to do on that, though.

What's your score prediction?

It will be a really tough one. Forest have been up and down, and it does depend what Forest side shows up.

Away from home, they have been hit and miss at times as well. They won in the capital against West Ham the other week, so they will hope to get another good result, and I think that would be a draw, so I will go for a 1-1 draw.