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Forest chief backing side through tough opening
Nottingham Forest, 16:44, June 18, 2009 ,
Nottinghamm Forest chief executive Mark Arthur says the club's start to the season will be tough but believes they are ready for it.
The 2009/10 fixtures threw up a tough opening month for Billy Davies' side as they face a trip to Reading on the opening day before games against West Brom (H), Watford (H), QPR (A) and local rivals Derby (H) during August.
However, with Davies still to strengthen the side with five or six new arrivals Arthur is backing his club to start well and make progress on what was a difficult campaign last season.
"This is when you feel like the season is about to start for me," Arthur told the Nottingham Evening Post.
"From the moment the fixtures come out and you can look at what is coming up, you start to anticipate what is ahead.
"It does look like a tough start, but we look forward to the challenge. It was a terrible season for us last season, but when the fixtures come out you can look at them and at least consider that we are still in the Championship.
"Charlton, Southampton and Norwich are not, but we can look forward to playing at this level again. But we do not want to go through that experience again.
"It is no surprise that our main goal is to do better than we did last season. We want to move forward and improve and will strive to make sure we do that."