Nottingham Forest 3 Leeds United 1: Montanier's charges finally finding their feet for Forest

Forest had previously beaten Burton and Wigan 4-3 on home turf and, while the tide of goals continued on the banks of the River Trent, Montanier’s side were also more defensively solid, with only a free-kick from Kalvin Phillips causing any nerves when he made the score 2-1 in the 84th minute.

Forest are still seeking their first Championship clean sheet of the campaign but Montanier feels they are edging closer to it.

“I don’t know if it was the best we have played, but it was a serious challenge for us; it was a tough game and a tough team to play at home so I am very happy with the win and also with the mentality of the squad,” he said. “We needed to be strong defensively and also have the capacity to score goals to win the game. We were more solid as a side and that was the target.

“The target is to be more solid defensively, but also to still play offensively. We have to find a good balance and this was a good performance on that front. The balance was much better.

“The defenders played very well, they did not take any risks at the back. We were more solid.”

Any visiting scouts will have again returned home with glowing reports on Burke, who is understood to be on the radar of numerous Premier League clubs including Tottenham and Sunderland.