Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his "unbalanced" side have a "major problem" as the Premier League returns, warning they are "very, very far" from where they should be.
With Forest preparing for Europa League football this season, the club have signed three outifled players in Dan Ndoye, Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha - while the major outgoing was the £55m sale of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle.
The club have agreed a deal worth up to £30m with Manchester City for James McAtee and are working on three more signings in Ipswich winger Omari Hutchinson, Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz and Rennes striker Arnaud Kalimuendo. They are also in talks with Callum Hudson-Odoi over a new contract.
Forest, who host Brentford on Sunday live on Sky Sports, have endured a difficult pre-season - scoring just once in seven matches, with Nuno admitting their summer plans have not come through.
Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News' David Craig ahead of the new season, Nuno said: "We are very far - very, very far - from where we should be. We are very far in terms of preparation, in terms of planning, in terms of the squad.
"So we are all very worried that in two or three days time we are playing for the Premier League, the most demanding competition in the world. And we are very far. Very, very far.
"The plans that we had didn't come through. The preparation in terms of squad was not ideal. We didn't have a chance to create the bond - and this is what I think is more important.
"Because we don't know which squad we have. We have players working here that know they're going to leave on loan. We have a major problem."
Forest were in the unusual position of not knowing exactly which European competition they will be playing in throughout the summer.
Crystal Palace were demoted from the Europa League, pushing Forest up from the Conference League - with the Eagles then losing their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The financial difference between the two competitions is understood to be around £20m - but Nuno says Forest should not be using their unique situation as an excuse for their lack of summer progress.
"If you play in Europe - Europa League or Conference League - you know that you're going to have a new challenge ahead of us," he added. "So in terms of preparation, nothing changed.
"We lost a very good opportunity to do things better. So now we have two weeks to go, and after these two weeks, then we can evaluate how things are.
"But what we have lost was the chance of doing things better. And that's not coming back."
"Let's see our approach," Nuno said about how they will tackle Sunday's game. "We have a squad that is unbalanced, one that doesn't have options in many, many positions. So we are taking a big chance on playing the games."
Elanga 'not easy to replace' - but Gibbs-White staying is 'very important'
Nuno also admitted his disappointment in seeing Elanga move on to Newcastle. The Swedish winger got 11 Premier League assists last term - only Jacob Murphy and Mohamed Salah managed more.
Asked how tricky it will be to replace Elanga, Nuno said: "Very difficult, very difficult - because Anthony's [role] is very specific in the work and in the characteristics that he has.
"So it's not easy to replace Anthony. It's not easy."
There was a piece of good news for Forest though with key midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White committing to a new deal.
Tottenham Hotspur put in a £60m bid for the England international which activated his release clause, but the deal then stalled after Forest threatened legal action against Spurs over an illegal approach, as well as the player's agent over breaching a confidentiality agreement over the clause.
Nuno revealed that owner Evangelos Marinakis played a crucial role in convincing Gibbs-White to stay.
"I think was a lot of circumstances happened around the situation of Morgan," Nuno said. "But more than anything, the credit is for the president that really personally got involved and solved the situation.
"He's very important. Morgan is a very important player for us, not only for what he gives us on the pitch, but also he's one of the captains. He's a leader by example, a nice boy - one that wants his ambitions and wants to improve. And this is contagious."
Watch Nottingham Forest vs Brentford live on Sky Sports' Super Sunday this weekend, kick-off at 2pm
This season, Sky Sports' Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
