Nottingham Forest are a club that has spiralled down the Premier League table following a disastrous run of form.
The Reds made a promising start to the season after beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge while running the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United close.
However, that promising start has since turned into a nightmare with the Tricky Trees picking up just one win from their last nine matches; only bottom-dwellers Sheffield United and Burnley have accumulated fewer points during that period.
To make matters worse, top scorer Taiwo Awoniyi is facing a significant spell on the sidelines after undergoing groin surgery with Steve Cooper confirming last week that he could be out for several months.
The towering Nigerian, who has plundered 14 of their 54 goals in the top flight since his arrival from Union Berlin, is going to be a huge miss as the focal point in the front line.
Chris Wood deputised in the 3-2 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion and although he has the Premier League pedigree to be a worthy replacement, Cooper could now unleash academy star Ateef Konate into the first-team.
Ateef Konate's youth statistics
22-year-old, Konate has gradually risen through the youth ranks at the City Ground but is at an age now where he needs to be playing regular first-team football.
Despite being subjected to interest from several Championship clubs in January, he instead joined League One side Oxford United, where he only featured five times in the second half of the season.
Whilst it didn't work out in the third tier, an unproductive loan spell isn't the makings of a youngster's career and the Frenchman has proven that he's a clinical scorer in Forest's underage groups.
With a return of 19 goals and ten assists in 43 appearances for Cooper's U21 side, Konate has shown he's a cut above players his age and now has to replicate such form in the senior setup.
What Konate could bring to Nottingham Forest
Hailed by journalist Josh Bunting as "very impressive", the clinical striker has struck three goals in seven Premier League 2 appearances this term, including a brace last time out against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Clearly an exciting talent, he was praised as a "very talented individual" by one of his youth coaches, Dave Rogers, after swooping the Player of the Month award for his division last season.
He said: “He’s scored some fantastic goals for us, but he brings so much more to the team than just finding the back of the net.
"He’s a threat for the opposition whenever he plays, and he has also added a real desire and work ethic off the ball too which is an area of improvement we asked of him. We now hope he can continue to progress from here because he’s a very talented individual.”
As demonstrated by Man United unleashing 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo into the first-team, young players can often thrive when thrown into the deep end and perhaps Cooper could use that as inspiration to unearth the striker.
Couple that with the fact Wood has only scored three goals this term, there's every reason to believe that taking a risk on Konate could pay off in the long run, even if it is just regular minutes off the bench to begin with.
In truth, a replacement for Awoniyi needs to be found as a matter of urgency, with Cooper set to save the club millions by looking to the academy set-up for a worthy solution.