THE OPPOSITION
Nottingham Forest continue to cast the odd glance over their shoulder as we head into the final stages of the season with Chris Hughton's side still not guaranteed their spot in next season's Sky Bet Championship.
Those glances may have become a little bit more frequent in recent weeks with The Reds without a win in five. They retain a nine-point advantage over Rotherham United but The Millers do still have those four games in hand.
Tomorrow's game will be Forest's fourth consecutive match against a side in the top six following defeats to Watford and Norwich City, either side of a draw at home to Reading. It doesn't get much easier after the break for them with a trip to Cardiff City their Good Friday fixture.
Chris Hughton, appointed in October, has made them much more difficult to beat since arriving at The City Ground. Forest have the fifth best defensive record in the entire division, conceding exactly a goal a game this term.
At the other end of the pitch, they have found the net just 29 times in 37 matches with Lyle Taylor leading their scoring charts on four.
Forest's games have the lowest goal average in the division (1.78) and half of their 18 away league games this term have gone into the break at 0-0, indeed only one has seen more than one goal in the opening 45 minutes.
TEAM NEWS
Pontus Jansson returned to the starting XI on Tuesday night at Derby County. The skipper's return means it is just Josh Dasilva (hip), Rico Henry (hamstring), Luka Racic (back), and Shandon Baptiste (knee) who are out.
Forest face the rest of the season without Joe Lolley (hamstring) while Joe Worrall (rib), Harry Arter (calf) and Fouad Bachirou (hamstring) will also miss out tomorrow. Lewis Grabban and Scott McKenna returned to action this week while Hughton is hopeful goalkeeper Brice Samba and winger Anthony Knockaert will be fit after missing the midweek defeat to Norwich City.
THE MANAGER
Chris Hughton took over at Forest following a five-year spell in charge of Brighton and Hove Albion. After taking over on the South Coast in 2014, Hughton led the club to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in its history in 2017 and successfully avoided relegation for two successive seasons before being dismissed in May 2019. Prior to that he got Newcastle United promoted back to the Premier League, reached the Championship Play-offs with Birmingham City and saved Norwich City from Premier League relegation.
The former left-back spent over a decade playing for Tottenham Hotspur before moving to West Ham United and finally Brentford in 1992. Hughton won two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup, and the Charity Shield with Spurs and was a part of our 91/92 Third Division winning side. He earned 53 caps with the Republic of Ireland, for whom he acted as assistant manager between 2003 and 2005.
PRE-MATCH VIEWS
⚖ Graham Scott will be the man in charge tomorrow lunchtime
🆚 Sarah Clapson of the Nottingham Post previews The Reds