dpThe home form was an issue last season, with only four victories in the league, and Rovers ultimately relied on their away record to secure safety.
Although Middlesbrough are a tough first opponent at Ewood Park, Forshaw hopes they can give the fans something to celebrate.
“That is the aim. “There’s no hiding from it, the home form wasn’t good enough last season and that’s something that simply we want to improve on, starting on Saturday,” he said.
Despite the late frustration, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance at Wolves – another of the early promotion favourites – on the opening night.
“(We can take) plenty,” Forshaw added. “The fan base, the travelling support, it geed us up and it was a great night, a good occasion. “We scored a couple of goals, which was an issue at times last season.
“Hopefully, we can take that into our home form now. “That is something we really want to improve on.”
Rovers were written off by some before a ball had been kicked at Molineux but ended up disappointed not to leave the Black Country with all three points.
Forshaw doesn’t mind being underestimated and insists there is plenty of character in the squad to prove their doubters wrong.
“I think it probably surprised some people; people were probably trying to write us off early on,” the experienced midfielder reflected.
“But we know what we’ve got in the dressing room. “We got better and better but unfortunate in the end, we just couldn’t close the game out.
“But plenty of positives. “We know that if we have a healthy squad and we’ve got everyone available to us, we know we can (prove people wrong).
“We have got quality, we have got grit within the team. We showed that at the end of last season and it’s pretty much the same players, bar a couple, so I think we’ve got well enough to have a decent season.”
The 34-year-old spent three seasons at Middlesbrough, racking up nearly 100 appearances for the North East club.
Forshaw went on to have spells at Leeds United, Norwich City and Plymouth Argyle before heading to Lancashire, where he has rediscovered his best form and become an important member of the squad.
Boro were battling for promotion last term, finishing in fifth place before losing out in the play-offs. Kim Hellberg’s side were offered unlikely reprieve after the Spygate saga but were beaten by Hull City at Wembley.
When asked what he expects from the next opponents, Forshaw replied: “Really good in possession, good rotations. They had 65 to 70 per cent possession last season.
“They were very good on the ball and have got good players. Obviously, they’re going to be at the top end of the table this season.
“If we mix together what we’ve shown in the first game and what we’ve shown at the end of last season, we can be really resolute and then we can punish teams as well, as we’ve shown on Friday night, so I’m optimistic for the game.”
