Birmingham Home Pre-Match Preview

On Sunday (28th December 2014), Forest have the chance to wipe the 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough out of their memory as they face Birmingham City at the City Ground. Forest's winless run is increasing game by game, with the last victory coming on the 22nd November when they beat Wolves 3-0 at Molineux. They need to somehow put this run to an end against Birmingham by securing the three points.

Birmingham City have had a turbulent couple of years since their relegation from the Premier League and winning the Capital One Cup in dramatic style against Arsenal. They managed to survive from relegation in the last minute of last season as Paul Caddis scored against Bolton Wanderers to secure their survival in the Championship. Birmingham started this season in the same terrible form which they had throughout majority of last season. They suffered an embarrassing 8-0 defeat to Bournemouth at St Andrews on the 25th October. However, since there has been a revolution at Birmingham. Manager Lee Clark was sent on his way after that defeat and was replaced with well respected Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett. Since this appointment, Birmingham have looked a completely different side. He has secured some impressive results including the 2-1 victory against Forest a couple of weeks back. However, he suffered one of his worst days since taking charge on Boxing Day as they suffered a 4-0 defeat at home to Derby County. In comparison, Forest's season has collapsed dramatically since being top for majority of the beginning of the season. Forest haven't recorded a win since their 3-0 win over Wolves at Molineux on the 22nd November. It has been a run of two defeats and three draws. It has been the amount of draws for Forest which have made their league position suffer. They have to start turning those draws into wins in order to push themselves back up the league table. Last time out, they suffered a horrendous 3-0 defeat away to Middlesbrough.

The Forest player's poor body language after losing 3-0 to Middlesbrough on Boxing Day at the Riverside Stadium. 






Forest face no new injury concerns ahead of this game with Birmingham. Dexter Blackstock should be back in contention after missing out with a knock on Boxing Day. Henri Lansbury should also be back after suffering from an illness. Jack Hobbs may also return to the squad after returning from a long term injury. Other than that it is only long-term absentees Andy Reid and Chris Cohen who remain unavailable to Stuart Pearce. 

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 1-1 Birmingham City. I think Forest will draw again at home as I think they are very low on confidence at this moment in time. I think Birmingham may take the lead in the first half and Forest will just have enough to get back on terms later on in the game. I think Forest badly need a win, so much so that it will put huge pressure on the players which they will not be able to deal with. However, I hope Forest get back to winning ways and turn their season around.

Middlesbrough 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest continued their dreadful run of form and slide down the league table with a 3-0 defeat away to Middlesbrough at the Riverside. Second half goals from George Friend, Vossen and Grant Leadbitter were enough to secure all three points for Middlesbrough.

Forest started the first half off probably the best they had done in a long time. They looked more solid defensively and were playing the ball on the floor a bit more than they had done of late. Middlesbrough were also playing the ball around well, which was expected as they are high on confidence and flying at the minute. George Friend appeared to be the most threatening Middlesbrough player in the first half, putting in a very good performance. The opening minutes, were limited to half chances for both teams, with no real clear cut action. George Friend was denied twice by Karl Darlow with the first being a fantastic save. Darlow helped Forest make it to the break with a clean sheet, mainly due to his brilliance to deny a couple of long range Friend efforts. Other than that, Forest managed to nullify Middlesbrough's threat and limit them to few chances, making them reasonably happy with their first half performance.

Stuart Pearce decided to make a change at the break with David Vaughan replacing top scorer Britt Assombalonga. This was a very questionable decision from Pearce who now left himself open for criticism. Then came the first goal of the game, George Friend leaped highest in the box, and headed home with Darlow having no chance. Looking back at the goal, it was Danny Fox who was at fault after failing to deal with the corner. Robert Tesche was unlucky not to equalize as his long range effort went just wide of the goal. Danny Fox then should have done better as his header went straight at the Middlesbrough keeper. Forest started to create more chances with Fryatt also heading straight at the keeper from a Ben Osborn cross. Then came the turning point in the game as Kelvin Wilson was sent off for a second bookable offence. Vossen then sealed the three points for Middlesbrough as he fired into the bottom corner of the net to make it 2-0. Middlesbrough then got a penalty after Bamford went down from Darlow's challenge. Grant Leadbitter stepped up and smashed it home to make it 3-0 to Middlesbrough and claim all three points.

Overall, it was a shocking result and performance from Forest. It was an unacceptable display and Pearce has to recognize that the players aren't performing to the standard that they should be doing. The three goals given away were all very poor and could have been prevented. It was a stupid sending off from Wilson's point of view to make an already difficult game even harder. Forest now have a game in two days time against Birmingham City to bounce back.

Middlesbrough Away Pre-Match Preview

On Friday (26th December 2014), Forest have the huge challenge of getting back to winning ways against Middlesbrough away at the Riverside Stadium. It has been another poor run of form from Forest since their 3-0 win at Molineux on the 22nd November. Forest will now look to end this run in what would be a very impressive result if they were to win at the Riverside.

Middlesbrough have had a sensational start to this season, and arguably one of the most consistent performers in the Championship so far. Aitor Karanka didn't start off great last season, but now he has had the time to implement his plans and his ideas and this is now showing on the pitch and the results Middlesbrough are now getting. Middlesbrough currently sit 4th in the Championship just three points off top spot. They have recorded eleven wins, six draws and and five defeats. Last time out however, Middlesbrough did fall to a 2-0 defeat away to Ipswich Town. Karanka criticized his players performances and claimed it was one of the worst he had seen since taking charge. He thought that his team believed they were a 'Champions League team' after the 2-0 win over Derby County. This defeat may have reduced confidence within the Middlesbrough camp, maybe giving Forest some hope on Boxing Day. In comparison, Forest's season has collapsed dramatically since being top for majority of the beginning of the season. Forest haven't recorded a win since their 3-0 win over Wolves at Molineux on the 22nd November. It has been a run of one defeat and three draws. It has been the amount of draws for Forest which have made their league position suffer. They have to start turning those draws into wins in order to push themselves back up the league table. Last time out Forest drew 1-1 at home to Leeds United which was a very disappointing result not helped by some shocking decisions from the officials.




Forest old boy Patrick Bamford celebrates putting Middlesbrough 1-0 up against Forest's arch rivals Derby County.






Forest have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this match, with more positive news on the long-term absentees. Jack Hobbs returned to full training a couple of days ago, but is very unlikely to be part of the match day squad. Stuart Pearce also revealed that Andy Reid will be returning to full training next week. Having both of those players back fully fit will be a huge boost to the team and maybe be the start of a good run of results. Forest will have to nullify the threat from former player Patrick Bamford if they are to return with anything from the Riverside.

My prediction for this game is Middlesbrough 4-0 Nottingham Forest. I think this will be the hardest game Forest have faced so far this season and I therefore can't see them coming home with anything from the game. I think Patrick Bamford, Albert Adomah and others will cause the Forest defence all sorts of problems. It is a shame that Jack Hobbs isn't back in time for this game as he would make the defence a lot more solid. However, you never know what might happen in the Championship, and there are usually a couple of freak results on Boxing Day.

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leeds United

Nottingham Forest's frustration was increased as Leeds United came back from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw at the City Ground. Matty Fryatt scored late on in the first half to put Forest ahead. Billy Sharp then cancelled Fryatt's goal out by converting from the penalty spot early on in the second half. The game was surrounded by controversy as Fryatt had two more goals disallowed which appeared to be onside.

It was a very scrappy start to the game, but it was still obvious that Forest were very low on confidence after failing to win since the 3-0 victory at Wolves. Leeds came closest to taking the lead in the early part of the game as Mowatt's shot took a deflection which saw it go just wide. Then came the first bit of controversy in the game at around the 20th minute mark. Antonio caused Leeds all sorts of problems in the box before finding Matty Fryatt who prodded home only for the linesman to have his flag up for offside. However, replays show that Fryatt was onside due to Sam Byram playing him on. This was the first poor and costly decision the referee made in the game. The game was then interrupted as another pitch invader came onto the pitch, a sight which is becoming familiar at the City Ground this season. He managed to avoid several stewards before being taken down pretty much in the Forest dugout. Dexter Blackstock appeared to be struggling with a slight knock and he was taken off in the 41st minute and replaced by Britt Assombalonga. Many fans will say that it should have started this way in the first place. Forest then took the lead in the match in injury time in the first half. Lansbury's corner was headed on by Michael Mancienne giving Fryatt the easiest goal he will score this season to put Forest 1-0 up.

Leeds came out and started the second half brightly, which came at no surprise considering they needed to find a way back into the game. Their way back into the game came as Sam Byram dribbled past several challenges in the area and was then foolishly taken down by Danny Fox. This gave Billy Sharp the chance to level the scores from the spot which he did as he smashed it down the middle of the goal. Then came the second piece of controversy in the game as Matty Fryatt ran through from a flick on and smashed the ball into the net, he was again ruled out by the linesman for offside. This time Sky replays were shown live in the ground which clearly showed Fryatt was onside much to the home crowd's displeasure. This meant Fryatt pretty much had scored a hat trick with two of his goals being unfairly ruled out. This left Forest yet again frustrated at full time.

Overall, I have been left in frustration for many reasons from this game. Even without those decisions going against us, we still should have had enough to beat that Leeds team comfortably. It was obvious from the first five minutes that Leeds were not a very good team at all and that Forest must win the game. However, Forest still played pretty poor football at times and gave possession away too easily. I do understand however that Forest would have won the game 3-1 had the referee and his team been of a better quality meaning that we could have dropped a vital two points.

Leeds Home Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (20th December 2014), Forest will look to get their first win since beating Wolves 3-0 at Molineux on 22nd November. It has been a winless run of three games since with pretty average performances from the team. It is now time for Stuart Pearce's men to start to find some form at the start of the festive period to try and close in on the play-offs.

Leeds United have had a pretty poor start to the season, arguably not helped by the constant chopping and changing by Italian chairman Massimo Cellino. Neil Redfearn is now currently in charge of Leeds for the second time this season and is trying to steady the boat. However, it has been a very difficult situation to try and control but he has managed to pick up several impressive results here and there. On their day, Leeds can still be a very good team at this level but too many times this season they have failed to turn up and been punished. The last time they did turn up was on the 29th November at home to our arch rivals Derby County when they won 2-0 with a very impressive performance. Mirco Antenucci scored twice, and will prove a significant threat to Forest's defence this weekend. He is probably the stand out player for Leeds and is a lethal finisher in front of goal. Leeds have since then performed very poorly losing their last two games. The first one of these was when they lost 4-1 at Ipswich Town followed up by a 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham. This could suggest that Leeds are low on confidence and there for the taking. In comparison, Forest's form hasn't been much better of late. Since winning 3-0 at Molineux around a month ago, Forest have lost one and drawn two. The performances haven't been good enough, and the team will have to start performing a lot better if they hope to achieve anything at the end of this season. Forest are now sitting five points off the play-off places, a number which seems to be increasing alarmingly every week. You would have to say that this sort of game is a must win if Forest want to get anywhere near those play-off places come the end of the campaign. Last time out Forest took part in a very dull 0-0 affair at the New York Stadium against Rotherham. Forest will look to produce a much better spectacle this time out.

Hugo Rodallega celebrates securing a 1-0 win for Fulham at Elland Road last weekend.






Stuart Pearce confirmed this week that he has a fully fit squad to choose from this week excluding the long-term injuries to Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen. It is also hoped that Jack Hobbs and Andy Reid should return shortly to match fitness which would be a huge boost to Forest and their promotion aspirations. The competition for places will be high and Stuart Pearce is again likely to make changes here and there to his team from the one which started last weekend against Rotherham United. Forest this week were hit by a transfer embargo, making the return of Jack Hobbs and Andy Reid become even more important in the coming weeks.

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leeds United. I think both are performing pretty poorly at the moment, and I think it will end up being a score draw. I think Leeds could take advantage of Forest's usually very poor starts and go 1-0 up. I then think Forest might just have enough to find an equalizer and take a point away from the game. Hopefully, I am wrong and Forest produce a much improved performance from the ones they have been producing recently but I seem to be saying this every week and it just never happens. A win would provide a massive boost ahead of what already looks like a massively difficult task away at Middlesbrough on Boxing Day.

Rotherham United 0-0 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest's poor run of form continued as they played out a goalless draw with Rotherham United at The New York Stadium. It was a very poor spectacle, with very few clear cut chances for either side. It was arguably Forest's worst performance of the season so far, a statement I worryingly seem to be stating every week, suggesting the performances are getting even worse.

Forest almost started the game by immediately going 1-0 down. Kelvin Wilson did a back pass towards Karl Darlow who misjudged it and took and missed the ball completely. Luckily for Forest he managed to avoid getting himself into any trouble on this occasion. Kelvin Wilson himself went down with what looked a very serious injury soon after, which was a worry to Forest fans considering how much playing time he has missed through injury in the past. Fortunately it was not as serious as first thought and Wilson was fit enough to continue playing the match. Forest struggled to get any flow in the game as Rotherham were pressing well and giving the Forest players no time on the ball whatsoever. Britt Assombalonga missed a half chance to put Forest 1-0 ahead, Michail Antonio's inviting cross was prodded wide by Assombalonga on the stretch. Ben Pringle then almost put Rotherham 1-0 up at the other end but his shot failed to trouble Karl Darlow. Assombalonga had another chance to put Forest ahead, as his header from Danny Fox's cross went wide. Rotherham then came incredibly close to going 1-0 up just before the break. Ledesma fouled Dexter Blackstock and got away with it before smashing a shot against the crossbar much to the Forest faithful's relief.

Forest started the second half brightly as Henri Lansbury headed the ball over the crossbar from yet another inviting cross from the left hand side. Forest then had the ball in the back of the net as Dexter Blackstock headed the ball over the line. However, it was controversially ruled out for a foul by Blackstock. Ben Pringle then had one of the best chances in the match to put Rotherham 1-0 up but fired well over the bar. Karl Darlow then had to be at his best to deny Ledesma from putting Rotherham infront with a good save with his legs. Then came Forest's best chance as Jamie Paterson whipped in a great cross which Britt Assombalonga just failed to connect with. This left Forest yet again disappointed with their performance and the final result.

Overall, this just wasn't good enough from a Forest side who should be performing much better. The team we have should be beating teams like Rotherham United, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City. I don't blame Stuart Pearce for the recent poor results, I blame the players. The players need to work harder and perform to the levels which they are capable of and have shown in glimpses this season but not enough. When this team is on form it is one of the best teams in the division, but we haven't seen this enough, only at the beginning of the season and at the away game at Wolves which now seems such a long time ago. You now look at the Leeds game thinking it is a must win as I can't see Forest coming back from Middlesbrough with anything on Boxing Day, although it is the Championship. Stuart Pearce and his men have a lot of work to do if promotion is to be achieved this season.

Rotherham Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (13th December 2014), Forest will look to get back to winning ways after their pretty average 1-1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic last weekend. It wasn't good enough from Forest who will be looking to vastly improve on that performance this week. They need to start producing much better performances to get some form going over the Christmas period and will start this Saturday when they visit The New York Stadium to face Rotherham United.

Rotherham United secured their place in the Championship in dramatic style last season as they won the League One play-off final against Leyton Orient in a penalty shootout. Steve Evan's men haven't been in very good form of late though after picking up a couple of impressive results early on in the campaign. Their last win came on October 17th as they beat local rivals Leeds United 2-1 at the New York Stadium, much to the delight of the home support. However, they haven't won since then meaning they have gone eight games straight without a victory. Their last outing was a credible 0-0 draw away at Cardiff City which could give themselves something to build on this weekend. Their desperate need for a win could make them tougher opposition for Forest this weekend. In comparison, Forest have also been struggling to get any form together recently. This is shown that it in their last three games they have won one, drawn one and lost one. The performances have also been very inconsistent as they have failed to find the level of performance they produced in the 3-0 win away at Wolves ever since. However, Forest do only sit three points off the play-off places meaning that this is a very important match which on paper they should be winning. A win would provide a massive boost for the team going into the run of festive fixtures.

The Rotherham United players celebrate securing promotion to the Sky Bet Championship at Wembley.






Forest have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to the New York Stadium. Henri Lansbury has recovered from a slight back problem he suffered against Charlton last weekend. Chris Burke and Danny Fox have also recovered from a bug going around during the week. This means that Stuart Pearce has got a fully fit squad to choose from apart from long-term absentees Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen. Forest received some great news during the week in the fact that Hobbs and Reid should be back playing around Christmas which is a huge boost to the side.

My prediction for this game is Rotherham United 0-3 Nottingham Forest. I think Forest are well overdue a good performance and I think today is the day for it. I don't think Rotherham are a particularly good side and I think Forest should comfortably win here on paper. Britt Assombalonga will be fit and fired up after missing out through suspension last weekend, making it a perfect opportunity for him to add to his tally. I think the sold out away end will lead Forest onto what would be a very precious victory.

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Charlton Athletic

Nottingham Forest continue to struggle to find any sort of form in the Sky Bet Championship this season as they drew 1-1 at home to Charlton Athletic at The City Ground. Callum Harriot's deflected strike off Michael Mancienne had given Charlton the lead early on, but was cancelled out in the second half by a wonder strike from Robert Tesche which prevented Charlton from taking home all three points.

The game started pretty slowly and scrappy as both sides attempted to get a foothold in the game. Henri Lansbury picked up his 9th yellow card of this season for a blatant foul on Cousins. This seems to be a new part of his game this season where if the game isn't going his way he just lashes out and picks up needless yellow cards. Due to Forest's form this season, this seems to be happening every game and it won't be long until he is suspended again. Chartlon then took the lead in the 9th minute as Callum Harriot's volley took a deflection off Michael Mancienne's leg which took it past Karl Darlow into the bottom corner. This was proving to be a very, very poor first half performance from Forest as the team provided little to get the crowd going. It could have been 2-0 to Charlton as a great cross opened up the Forest defence but Vetokele could only head the ball at Karl Darlow in the Forest goal. You would of put your house on Vetokele converting that sort of chance with the form he has been showing so far this season. Michail Antonio was looking the only threat for Forest, in what was arguably one of his best personal performances over 90 minutes. He combined well with Lansbury to give him a good chance but his shot was straight at the goalkeeper.

Stuart Pearce decided to make a change at half time with Robert Tesche replacing Henri Lansbury. This seemed a wise move as Lansbury wasn't playing very well, and looked in massive danger of being sent off having already picked up a yellow card. Jamie Paterson could have won a penalty early in the second half as his turn caused the Charlton defence problems and he appeared to have been brought down but the referee didn't give it. Watching it back, I believe this was a definite penalty. Tesche didn't take long to make an impact in the game as in the 59th minute he scored what will be one of the goals of the season. He took the ball down on his chest and volleyed home from long range. His celebration was just as good as he did a couple of flips to celebrate drawing Forest level. Forest were performing much better in the second half and Jamie Paterson came close to putting Forest 2-1 ahead as his shot went just wide of the post. Dexter Blackstock came on in the 76th minute for a rare appearance which have been limited so far this season. Forest piled on the pressure in the last 15 minutes but just couldn't find that elusive second goal to win them the match.

Overall, this was a very strange game from Forest's point of view. The first half was probably the worst performance from Forest so far this season and the second was a much improved performance and Forest maybe in the end deserved to win the game. However, Forest cannot continue to play so poorly in the first half of games, we have to start well to give ourselves a good chance of winning. You are always going to be struggling to win games when you play so poorly for half the match. I am sure this is what Stuart Pearce will be looking to improve on, in the upcoming trip to Rotherham United.

Charlton Home Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (6th December 2014), Forest will be looking to bounce back straight away from their defeat to Birmingham City last weekend. It was an unfortunate loss for Forest as they lost in controversial fashion in the final minute of the game. They will look to get back to the level of performance they produced at Wolves to try and get back to winning ways at home to Charlton Athletic.

Charlton Athletic have been one of the surprise packages of the season so far. They were predicted by many people to have a season of struggle after just staying up in the Championship last season. New manager Bob Peeters probably wasn't expected to do anymore than keep Charlton in the Championship this season, but so far they are massively exceeding these expectations currently sitting 10th in the league. However, Charlton's results have dropped off recently, after the almost faultless start they made to the campaign. They have only won once in their last six matches, this being a 1-0 win away at Reading. Vetokele is a player Forest will have to look out for as he has been in fantastic form so far this season and has been the key reason in their very respectable league position. Most recently, Charlton lost 1-0 at home to Ipswich in what was a very scrappy affair, settled by a late strike from Ipswich debutant Noel Hunt. Charlton will consider themselves unlucky to lose this match and will be looking to bounce back at the City Ground this weekend. In comparison, Forest suffered a very disappointing and controversial defeat to Birmingham City last weekend. A late controversial penalty was given to Birmingham City and was converted to consolidate Forest to a 2-1 defeat. However, Forest cannot be too disheartened by this result after two impressive wins against Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. If Forest can recreate the performance they produced at Wolves they have a great chance of beating any team in this division. However, Forest's form overall in the past few months has been very poor with only two wins in twelve games. This is not good enough for promotion which is what Forest are hoping to achieve this season.

The Forest player's dispute with the referee after the fourth official influences the referee to give a penalty in the 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City.







There are no new injury concerns ahead of the visit of Charlton Athletic on Saturday. The only forced absentee is Britt Assombalonga who is serving his one match ban after getting sent off for handball last weekend against Birmingham City. Apart from that there are no other new injuries to note. Andy Reid and Jack Hobbs are said to be progressing well with their long term injuries so they will hopefully be back around the back end of the festive period. The only other long term injury is Chris Cohen who will miss the rest of the season through injury.

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 1-0 Charlton Athletic. I think it will be a very tight scrappy win for Forest. This is the sort of game Forest always struggle in when we have to take the game to the opposition. Charlton are also a very solid outfit and won't be easy to breakdown especially now we are missing the pace of Britt Assombalonga. I fancy Dexter Blackstock to get his first start of the season and maybe even nick a goal. I would take this kind of win just to keep spirits high before the run of festive fixtures coming up.

Birmingham City 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest failed to make it three wins in a row in the Championship as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City at St Andrews. David Cotterill gave the Blues the lead. This was cancelled out by a second half goal from the Championship's top scorer Britt Assombalonga but Paul Caddis secured the three points for Birmingham late on by converting a controversial penalty.

Forest came out of the blocks looking the better team in the early stages. Michail Antonio went on one of his runs down the line that Forest fans have become so used to seeing. Antonio then delivered in a very inviting cross into the danger area, but no one in Forest colours could connect to put Forest 1-0 ahead. Forest's good start counted for nothing a couple of minutes later as David Cotterill put Birmingham 1-0 up with a superb left footed strike in to the top corner of the net. Karl Darlow was left helpless in the Forest goal as it went in off the underside of the bar. Birmingham could have found themselves 2-0 up soon after as young star Demarai Gray played through Clayton Donaldson for a great chance, but Darlow made himself big to tip the shot over the crossbar. Britt Assombalonga then had a few chances to level the scores at 1-1. He first had a chance from a Ben Osborn corner as he headed the ball over the crossbar when he maybe could have done better with the effort. He then attempted what was a very ambitious long range shot on the counter attack when he perhaps should have passed to continue what was looking like a very promising counter attack for Forest. Birmingham then almost had a huge stroke of luck as Paul Caddis had a shot which took a huge deflection off Danny Fox and almost caught Darlow off guard as it crashed against the crossbar. Forest were very lucky not to find themselves 2-0 down. Chris Burke was playing for the first time against his former club and had a good low shot saved comfortably by Randolph. This then signaled the end of the first half, with Forest having considerable chances but not performing as well as they had at Wolves just a week ago.

Matty Fryatt was influential in that victory at Molineux and he did some good work again setting up Henri Lansbury who's wild shot was a long way off target. Chris Burke got substituted after 63 minutes and was replaced by Jamie Paterson who played well in his short stint at Wolves. Forest then went to three at the back, in an attempt to get back into the game, a very similar formation to which worked against Norwich a couple of weeks ago. Jamaal Lascelles almost made a costly error as his slip allowed Clayton Donaldson to run at the Forest defence but Darlow stood up strong again to deny the striker for the second time in the match. Michail Antonio then had a chance to equalize for Forest as he received the ball in the box but his shot was hit right at Randolph. Forest then found a precious equalizer soon after as Jamie Paterson flicked on Eric Lichaj's cross from the right hand side and Britt Assombalonga was there to head home his 12th goal of the season so far. Assombalonga did however appear to be offside as the ball was flicked on by Paterson, much to the displeasure of the Birmingham players. Then came the big talking point in the game, Morrison headed the ball towards the Forest goal and Britt Assombalonga appeared to handball it on the line. However, the referee nor the linesman saw the incident and were both happy to give a corner. The fourth official then called over the referee stating it was a penalty even though he was stood at least 50 yards away from the action. The referee then took his word for it and gave the penalty and also sent off Assombalonga in the process for deliberate handball. Paul Caddis then stepped up to take the penalty and had the nerve to convert it into the bottom right hand corner under huge pressure. Tom Ince then had a great chance to equalize for Forest to make it 2-2 at the end of the match but his effort was cleared off the line.

Overall, this wasn't a particularly bad performance from Forest, they just lost in what was very unfortunate circumstances. Forest should have come back from St Andrews with at least a point and if the controversial penalty hadn't been given to Birmingham, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them go on to secure all three points. The biggest blow to Forest is the one match suspension to Britt Assombalonga who will now miss the game against Charlton on Saturday. Any team is going to miss a player of his quality considering he is the Championship's top goal scorer. I think Pearce should continue to play with this team and formation as I think it will get wins regularly in the Championship and take us into at least the play-off places very soon.

Birmingham Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (29th November 2014), Forest will look to make it three wins in a row after their emphatic 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers a week ago. Forest produced what was arguably their best performance of the season so far at Molineux. They will now be looking to replicate that performance at St Andrews on Saturday as they face Birmingham City.

Birmingham City have had a turbulent couple of years since their relegation from the Premier League and winning the Capital One Cup in dramatic style against Arsenal. They managed to survive from relegation in the last minute of last season as Paul Caddis scored against Bolton Wanderers to secure their survival in the Championship. Birmingham started this season in the same terrible form which they had throughout majority of last season. They suffered an embarrassing 8-0 defeat to Bournemouth at St Andrews on the 25th October. However, since there has been a revolution at Birmingham. Manager Lee Clark was sent on his way after that defeat and was replaced with well respected Burton Albion manager Gary Rowett. Since this appointment, Birmingham have looked a completely different side and Rowett is unbeaten in his four games he has been in charge so far. He has achieved two draws and two wins so far in charge and they look a lot more solid than the team which let in eight goals against Bournemouth only a month ago. Huge respect has to go to Gary Rowett for what he has done in such a small space of time. Birmingham's most recent success came last weekend at Rotherham as they won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Clayton Donaldson. In comparison, Forest are in a similar position of recently coming back into form after a bad run of results. Forest have now won their last two games after going on a run of ten games without three points. There is a lot more happiness back around the club after the recent victories which is passing onto the players who look like they have got their confidence back. Last weekend was one of Forest's best performances of the season as they came out 3-0 winners against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. If Forest manage to replicate this performance at St Andrews on Saturday then Birmingham will be in for one hell of a game.

Birmingham have gone through somewhat of a revolution since Gary Rowett has taken charge as they have gone on a four game unbeaten run.







Forest didn't gain any new injury problems from their trip to Molineux. A few players managed to return from injury for Wolves such as Kelvin Wilson and Danny Fox. Danny Fox managed to come through unscathed and put in a very good performance. Matty Fryatt also showed what a good player he is and how vital it is that he stays away from injury for Forest. I can't imagine Pearce will make too many changes to the team this weekend after what was a 'perfect' away performance at Wolves last weekend. However, long-term injuries to Jack Hobbs, Chris Cohen and Andy Reid make them still unavailable for selection but they are apparently making good progress.

My prediction for this game is Birmingham City 0-2 Nottingham Forest. I do think that it will be a tougher game than it was at Wolves due to the new manager factor at Birmingham at the moment. I think the first goal will be vitally important. If Forest get it, their quality should then shine through and they should be able to utilize their pace on the counter attack. Forest should on paper win this game as the quality of their side is significantly better than Birmingham. However, this is the Championship where anybody can beat anybody which is what makes it so interesting. I hope Forest can get their third win in a row which should be enough to push them back into the playoff places.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest made it two wins on the bounce with an emphatic 3-0 victory at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Three second half goals from Britt Assombalonga, Matty Fryatt and Henri Lansbury made sure Forest returned from the international break by securing all three points.

Forest started the first half looking very bright and fresh. Michail Antonio forced Ikeme into a smart save as he had an ambitious shot from outside the box. Forest even in the early stages looked like they had their confidence back after their dramatic late in against Norwich City before the international break. However, Wolves new signing Danny Graham looked lively for the home team and forced Darlow into making a good but comfortable save. Forest were then inches away from going 1-0 up as Henri Lansbury tried his look from long range with a curler and Ikeme managed to push his shot onto the post with a brilliant save. Lascelles then had a chance to convert from the rebound but made a terrible connection and it went wide of the post. Wolves then thought they had gone 1-0 up themselves as Edwards found space in the area and converted into the bottom corner. However, the celebrations didn't last long as the goal was disallowed for offside. Lascelles then got booked for handball just before half time as he prevented Wolves from taking a quick throwing on the attack. Forest went off for half time feeling very pleased with their first half performance and feeling they could kick on and get the win in the second half.

The Forest players came out very early for the second half, obviously very eager to get the win done and dusted. Forest had a great chance on the counter attack. Chris Burke ran at the Wolves defence and opted to slide the ball across to Henri Lansbury rather than shoot himself. Lansbury failed to convert the chance as his tame effort was hit straight at Ikeme. Danny Fox then almost scored as he had a right footed curler which went agonizingly close as it went past the top corner of the net. It was now beginning to look like a matter of time before Forest were going to go into the lead. Forest then did this with what was a fantastic move. There were around 15 passes or more involved in the build up mainly involving Lansbury, Antonio, Fryatt and Assombalonga. Fryatt helped finish off the move as his tidy footwork ended in him passing straight across goal for Assombalonga to notch in his 11th goal of the campaign to put Forest 1-0 up. Forest continued to attack the home team in an attempt to finish off the game. Forest won a corner quickly after and Henri Lansbury's ball was converted by Matty Fryatt whos looping header managed to find the bottom corner to make it 2-0 to Forest. Wolves did have chances as there was a scrap in the box but the ball just didn't fall for them to score and come back into the game. They were punished for not taking their chances as Michail Antonio came forward again and Henri Lansbury smashed the ball into the bottom corner after it had been cleverly dummied by Ben Osborn and Matty Fryatt. This finished off what was a fantastic and well deserved win for Forest in the West Midlands.

Overall, I believe this was by far Forest's best performance of the season so far. Forest were so clinical when attacking and punished Wolves dearly for the small amount of chances they did not manage to take. It was also pleasing to get a clean sheet after conceding so many goals in recent times which is never good. It was the first time the team really looked to gel since the injuries to Andy Reid, Chris Cohen and Jack Hobbs. I now hope that Pearce sticks with this team and formation which clearly works very well. Hopefully, we will now be able to take the momentum into the next run of fixtures.

Wolves Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (22nd November 2014), Forest will look to add to their confidence boosting win over Norwich City before the international break. Forest ended a long winless run with their dramatic late 2-1 win over Norwich which was relief for everyone connected with the club. Forest will now look to start another run up the league table as they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday.

Wolves have had a relatively solid start to the season considering it is their first season back in the Championship since their successive relegations from the Premier League to League One. However, they have been inconsistent throughout the season with a mixed bag of results. They seem to be one of those unpredictable teams in the Championship and you don't know what team is going to turn up. Their last win came on the 25th October as they won 2-1 at Elland Road which is never an easy place to go and win especially considering they went 1-0 behind. Forest will be facing a Wolves side who have just faced two defeats in a row as they lost 2-1 away to Ipswich and most recently 5-0 away to Forest's arch rivals Derby County. This was a shocking performance from Wolves who just failed to turn up on the day and got destroyed by Derby who look one of the best teams in the Championship at the moment. In comparison, Forest ended their long winless run with a huge win over Norwich City which sent a confidence boost throughout the whole club. It ended a run of Forest going around nine games without a win spreading fears of crisis around the club. Britt Assombalonga and Michail Antonio inspired the victory and both went up to ten league goals for the season and will be looking to add to this at Wolves tomorrow. Pearce is sure to have worked on the Forest defence which looked so very fragile before the international break. If he has managed to make the defence more solid then Forest will have a good basis to start a good run and push them back up the league table and try and rekindle their form from the start of the season.

Michail Antonio slots home a late dramatic winner in the game against Norwich City before the international break.







Forest have received an injury boost this week with Pearce confirming Danny Fox and Kelvin Wilson are back fit and available for the game against Wolves. This will provide a boost to the Forest defence which has looked very fragile of late. Forest's international players such as Chris Burke and Tom Ince all came back fully fit and ready to go again on Saturday. Forest have no new injury problems which is a huge positive going into the next run of league fixtures. However, Forest are still without long-term absentees Chris Cohen, Jack Hobbs and Andy Reid.

My prediction for this game is Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Nottingham Forest. I think the Forest team will be full of confidence and go on to secure another win to push them up the table. I fancy Michail Antonio and Britt Assombalonga to cause the Wolves defence loads of problems. However, Molineux is a very difficult place to go and it will be a very difficult challenge for Forest to go their and claim a victory. If Forest do go there and claim a victory their season will be officially back on track.

Stuart Pearce's start at Nottingham Forest

As we are now around a quarter way through the season I thought it would be a good time to analyse Stuart Pearce's start as Nottingham Forest boss. Forest recently recorded a vital win in dramatic style by beating Norwich City 2-1 late on at the City Ground which has arguably made this article a lot more positive than it would of been if Forest had suffered another defeat in that game.

I am going to start by looking at results which is what managers are judged on especially in the modern game today. Pearce has been in charge of Forest for 17 league games in the Sky Bet Championship. He has won six, drawn seven and lost four of those games. Those statistics don't seem too bad but considering Forest won four out of their first five games you would have expected Forest to have collected a lot more points than they have in recent weeks. Pearce has got an argument that the loss of Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen have had a big effect on this but if you look at the line up Forest have every week even without these players, they are capable of a lot more. Hopefully, now they have had that confidence boosting win against Norwich they can go on to repeat their form from the beginning of the season. If you compare the start to this season to the start to last season under Billy Davies, Forest are two points worse off. After 17 games last season, Forest sat 6th on 27 points. Today, Forest sit 11th on 25 points. However, there are differences between this season and last. Last season there were two outstanding teams in Leicester and Burnley who managed to keep their form up the entire season and stayed near the top for the entire campaign. This put Forest eight points off the top of the Sky Bet Championship at this stage last season. This season Forest sit seven points off the top in what is a much tighter league. No one is running away with the league this season and there are many teams which could achieve promotion. This is shown by the fact Forest are 11th but only seven points off the top. This arguably means that Forest are in a better position to mount a promotion push than they were last year at this stage, with promotion looking more achievable. Of course, there are other teams with similar ambitions which Forest will have to battle with for those top places such as Derby County, Middlesborough, Watford, Ipswich Town, Bournemouth and more who have all shown potential so far this season. If Forest can stay within this group until around Christmas they will then have a great chance with the boost of a returning Jack Hobbs and Andy Reid. They could then go on a good run and push themselves right into contention.

The fans are the heartbeat of any football club and Stuart Pearce has recognised that. The fans seem a lot happier overall than they were under recent managers such as Billy Davies, Alex McLeish, Steve McClaren and more. Stuart Pearce has a connection with the Forest fans which I haven't seen since I have been watching Forest. This was shown during the celebrations of Michail Antonio's late winner against Norwich as Pearce joined in with the fan's celebrations. Pearce always comments on the fantastic support from the fans which helps the fans feel more positive about everything related to the club. The fans have supported Pearce all the way so far, shown in the attendances both home and away. It has only been a minority which have ever suggested sacking Pearce, and there has been no mention of it since the win over Norwich showing how ridiculous it all was. Forest fans have recently shown their fantastic support again by selling out their allocation for the away trip to Wolves next week with around 2,500 fans attending. When managers such as Billy Davies were in charge there were far many more doubters around than they are today. Pearce's reputation as a player is going to buy him a lot more time than any other manager. He needs to continue to build relationships with fans who can't remember him as a player. If he manages to do this then his relationship with the fans is only going to get even better.

The morale among the players seems to be very good under Pearce. The team has shown tremendous character throughout the season especially in that dramatic late win against Norwich. You know that they all want to play and do well for Pearce. This has been shown with their ability to end that long winless run. Billy Davies's side had a similar run last season which resulting in him getting the sack. He had completely lost the players during that run which ultimately cost him his job. This has not happened to Pearce who has managed to keep the players on side the whole time. Pearce has a much different approach to what previous managers have had. He never uses injuries as an excuse or makes out that the players coming in to replace these injured players aren't good enough. He has faith in all the players and believes in all of them. He also has faith in youth bringing the likes of Ben Osborn, Jorge Grant and Jamie Paterson chances throughout the season. This is something which just hasn't happened under previous managers. It is something Pearce has recognised as a very important part of the club and this is good for the development of our young players.

Pearce has also done very well in the transfer market. He started by letting majority of the out of contract players leave. This included the likes of Matt Derbyshire, Guy Moussi, Gonzalo Jara Reyes and more. He also offloaded more deadwood including Simon Cox, Darius Henderson, Jamie Mackie, Rafik Djebbour and more recently Greg Halford. This has helped reduce the wage bill of the club massively and allowed us to bring in better quality players. One deal which wasn't approved by the fans was the £7 million sale of Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow to Newcastle United. However, it was later found out that this had nothing to do with Pearce who also objected the decision. Pearce has replaced these players with better quality ones in the summer. He has brought in the likes of Michael Mancienne, Matty Fryatt, Britt Assombalonga, Michail Antonio, Robert Tesche, Chris Burke and more who have impressed so far this season. Players like Assombalonga and Antonio have brought Forest a threat which hasn't been present in a very long time. There is just no comparison between Britt Assombalonga and players we had upfront last year such as Simon Cox, Darius Henderson and even Greg Halford. He hasn't overspent either, all of his signings have been well worth the money. He managed to sign Michael Mancienne ridiculously cheap at just £1 million. He has also recently attracted England Under-21 star Tom Ince to the club on loan. Forest would never have been able to attract this caliber of player to the club under many other managers especially not Billy Davies. The only concern over transfers is that the club could be faced with a transfer embargo but this is mainly down to Billy Davies overspending in the past on the likes of Rafik Djebbour and Djamal Abdoun who is still reportedly sat on £30,000 a week with no involvement in the squad. Once the injured players have returned this should be less of a problem anyway.

Overall, I think Stuart Pearce has made a very good start to his time in charge of Nottingham Forest. Forest are in a good position on and off the field to make a challenge for promotion this season. I think that after that win over Norwich, Forest will now go on another good run which will push them right up the table. Promotion would be a huge achievement for Pearce in his first year in charge of the team, but it is possible to achieve. I think if the club remains together we can all push towards the goal of reaching the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest 2-1 Norwich City

Nottingham Forest ended their long winless run in dramatic style as they came back late on to beat Norwich City 2-1 at the City Ground. Late goals from Britt Assombalonga and Michail Antonio helped cancel out an early opener from Jonny Howson which put Norwich 1-0 up. This was Forest's first win since the 5-3 success over Fulham in mid-September and they will now look to push themselves back up the table.

Forest began the first half looking much the better team. They were passing the ball around well and looked much better against a Norwich team who you could tell were low on confidence themselves after a 4-0 defeat to Middlesborough in mid-week. Tom Ince was agonizingly close to getting his first goal for Forest as his quick left footed shot was just inches over finding the top left hand corner after great work from Antonio down the wing. However, Forest were made to pay for poor defending yet again just minutes after. Russell Martin and Jonny Howson combined well on the right hand side and left Howson left Dan Harding for dead as he ran into the area unchallenged and coolly slotted past Karl Darlow at the far post. It was a huge blow for Forest who hadn't made their bright start to the game count and had been punished by Norwich's first meaningful attack. Norwich then had an absolutely fantastic chance to go 2-0 up in the game and give Forest a mountain to climb. Lewis Grabban had a free header from just a couple of yards out and failed to hit the target. Forest then noticeably lost their confidence again as they had done in previous matches. This allowed Norwich to become very dominant as they saw the half out leading 1-0. A minority of the Forest faithful booed their team off at half time.

Stuart Pearce again made changes at half time with Jamie Paterson coming on for Tom Ince who for long periods of the first half just didn't look interested. Forest started the second half okay creating several half chances for both Antonio and Assombalonga. Forest could have leveled the scores as Michail Antonio just failed to connect with an inviting cross from Henri Lansbury. Forest then finally had a breakthrough. Matty Fryatt did some good work in and around the box and managed to find a neat pass to Britt Assombalonga who managed to tap the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-1. Forest could have made it 2-1 immediately after as Britt Assombalonga raced through on goal only for his shot to be blocked after he cut inside. Norwich then immediately began to attack again as they searched for a late winning goal and an immediate response from the equalizer. It was from a Norwich corner where the biggest moment of the game came from. Forest managed to clear the corner and Jamie Paterson picked the ball up in his own half. He then delivered what was a beautiful ball to Assombalonga who found himself with acres of space to run in to. He then delivered a fantastic through ball for Antonio to run through on goal. Antonio ran through and slotted the ball into the bottom corner and lift the roof of the City Ground. It was a mixture of joy and relief in the celebrations as Forest went 2-1 ahead. Forest then just about managed to see out the final minute or so of injury time and secure what was a massive confidence boosting win.

Overall, this wasn't the best performance from Forest but was an absolutely massive result. It was so important that Forest went into the international break on a high after what has been a dismal run of form. There is no better way to win a match than score two late goals after being 1-0 down for so long. There is no doubt that Pearce and the players will be absolutely buzzing with the win and now be much more looking forward to Wolves than they would of been if they had lost. It has now put Forest back on track as they sit just three points off the play off places and seven points behind Derby who sit top of the table. The international break now provides time for Pearce to work on the defence and make sure we are a lot more solid for the next round of games. If he manages to do this then it could be the start of another good run to push us back up the table.

Norwich Home Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (8th November 2014), Forest will be looking to respond from what is now three straight league defeats. Forest were defeated 3-1 at the City Ground by Brentford on Wednesday night in what was an unacceptable performance from the players. It is now the players themselves who have to respond and put things right against Norwich City at home on Saturday.

Norwich City are also a team like Forest who have arguably underachieved so far this season. They also similarly to Forest had a flying start to the campaign putting them right in the mix at the top of the Championship. However, of late they have failed to get any form going once in their last seven games in the league. You would expect that Norwich will soon start picking results up again as they have one of the strongest squads in the division after managing to keep hold of many quality players such as Nathan Redmond, Garry Hooper and John Ruddy. Norwich suffered a humiliating defeat last time out as they lost 4-0 at the Riverside stadium to Middlesborough. This leaves them in 7th place in the table, still only four points above Forest themselves. Norwich will now be looking to respond and start pushing themselves back up the table. In comparison, there have been talk of a crisis at Forest after they suffered their third defeat in a row and have now failed to win a match in nine matches. The performances and results seem to be getting worse by the game after what was a horrid defensive display against Brentford. Forest's defence looks so very fragile at the moment and they have concede d fifteen goals in just six games after looking so solid at the back in the successful start to the campaign. The way Forest have actually conceded goals is also a huge concern and Pearce has described them as 'stupid errors' which need to be removed. The three goals conceded against Brentford all could have been avoided, especially the second where Eric Lichaj passed the ball straight to Andre Gray to run through on goal and score. Forest surely know that they have to put a performance in on Saturday otherwise they could be putting their manager under huge pressure if they fail to get a result yet again.





The Brentford players celebrate going 3-0 up against Forest to inflict yet more misery on the players and manager Stuart Pearce.







Both Danny Fox and Jack Hunt both went off injured in Wednesday night's defeat against Brentford. Stuart Pearce has said he hopes they are both back for the visit of Norwich. However, if they are not ready for the match, the defence may have to be changed around again with the likes of Dan Harding maybe having a chance of coming back into the starting line-up. Stuart Pearce may decide to give Britt Assombalonga a place in the team after dropping him to the bench for Wednesday's match, a decision questioned by many supporters before and after the match. Forest are still without long-term absentees Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen who Pearce has recently said they have massively been missing in this ever increasing winless run.

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 0-4 Norwich City. The way Forest are playing at the moment it would not be a surprise to see a team of Norwich's quality to punish them badly. Brentford could have easily been 4-0 up by half-time the other night and I think Norwich will take their chances even more than Brentford did. I think in Cameron Jerome they have a striker who is a goal scorer and will convert most chances he gets this season already shown by his eight goals so far this campaign. They also have other players who will cause Forest all sorts of problems such as Nathan Redmond who is sure to fancy his chances against the likes of Dan Harding, Danny Fox or Eric Lichaj who have all performed well below average lately. It would be a very depressing international break if Forest fell to yet another defeat but at the moment you cannot see anything different happening especially against a Norwich sound who will be looking to bounce back immediately from their 4-0 defeat at Middlesborough.

Nottingham Forest 1-3 Brentford

Nottingham Forest continued their slide down the Championship table as Brentford defeated them 3-1 at the City Ground. Jon Toral, Andre Gray and Alex Pritchard were the players to capatalise on what was shambolic defending from Forest. Michail Antonio pulled one back for Forest but it was never going to be enough to hide the embarrassment of Forest losing yet another match to a team they should be beating if they hope to achieve promotion.

The first half began pretty steadily with the away side settling into the game and looking in a confident mood. Forest appeared to also look more solid than they had been in previous games especially against Huddersfield. This could have been because Stuart Pearce picked a more defensive starting-11 with Michail Antonio played as a lone striker. However, Forest's defence quickly returned to the shambles of previous matches. Moses Odubajo ran at the Forest defence and almost fed Andre Gray in on goal who was clattered by Jack Hunt and the ball eventually found Jon Toral in a dangerous position who took no time in smashing the ball into the top corner of the net to make it 1-0 Brentford. What was next to come could be a contender for blooper of the season from Forest's Eric Lichaj. He had only been on the field a matter of minutes before he made one of the worst back passes I have ever seen. His pass was way short of Darlow with no pressure on him whatsoever and it allowed Andre Gray an early Christmas present to go round the keeper and put Brentford 2-0 up. It was inexcusable from Lichaj who looks a shadow of the player from last year and the beginning of this season who looked so solid. Brentford had a fantastic chance to make it 3-0 and kill the game off before half-time but Douglas failed to score with the goal at his mercy. The half-time whistle was met with boos from some of the Forest fans, understandably after a first half performance which was just not acceptable.

Stuart Pearce decided something had to change at half-time and he brought on top scorer Britt Assombalonga for defender Jamaal Lascelles. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for Forest, they did just three minutes into the second half. Andre Gray received the ball in the penalty area before being taken down in what was a terrible challenge by Kelvin Wilson. It was a penalty all day long and Alex Pritchard stood up to take it and converted it into the middle of the goal to make it 3-0 to the away side and effectively kill the game off. Things got even worse for Forest as Danny Fox was carried off on a stretcher meaning Forest were down to ten men after already using all of their substitutes. This was to add to an injury to Jack Hunt who was taken off with a knock earlier on in the game. Michail Antonio managed to get a consolation goal for Forest in the 82nd minute after a good pass from Jamie Paterson as he scored a screamer into the top corner from around 35 yards out. However, it was too little too late for Forest who had lost the game a long time before this. The full time whistle was again met with boos from some of the Forest fans, but their support was very good the whole way through the match as they continued to support their team even when 3-0 down.

Overall, this was a dismal performance from a Forest side who are now massively underachieving in the league. It is no acceptable for a team who are as good as we are on paper to be losing 3-1 to a team like Brentford who have just been promoted from League One. However, it just shows what a crisis of confidence the players have at the moment as I am sure if this match was played at the beginning of the season Forest would have won comfortably. Some fans will now call for Stuart Pearce to get sacked but I don't think this is the right attitude to have. At the moment the fans need to get behind the team and urge them on to a victory. It is clear how quickly things can change in football. You only have to look at Alan Pardew and Newcastle United to see this. The only way we are going to improve is with stability and that means keeping Stuart Pearce and allowing him to turn things around which I'm sure he will.

Brentford Home Pre-Match Preview

On Wednesday (5th November 2014), Forest will look to end their winless run of eight games. Last time out they had a very disappointing result as they fell to a 3-0 defeat against 15th placed Huddersfield Town. The Forest players will now look to end their terrible run of form with a win at home to Brentford.

Brentford have had a very satisfying start to the season in their first year back in the Championship since being promoted from League One. Mark Warburton has done a very good job since Uwe Rosler left to take over at Wigan not so long ago. Warburton encouraged Brentford to play a very good style of football which was so successful in League One and they have now continued this into the Championship achieving similar success. Brentford have won six of their first fifteen league matches which seems them sitting currently in 12th position level on points with Forest. Brentford's most recent success came only last Saturday when they beat Forest's arch rivals Derby County 2-1 thanks to a goal late on from Stuart Dallas. This result shows that they should not be underestimated by any team in the division this season. In comparison, Forest would do anything to get themselves a win at the moment. From what was a faultless start to the campaign, Pearce's men now find themselves sliding down the league table at an alarming rate. Forest have not won a match in the Championship for eight games and are now starting to concede goals left right and centre. The performance in the most recent 3-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town was simply not good enough and they have to improve if they hope to achieve their aspirations of getting Forest back to the Premier League. However, there is some hope for Forest as the last time they played on a Wednesday night was the last time they won in a 5-3 win over Fulham in what proved to be a goal fest at the City Ground.

The Brentford players celebrate securing a victory late on against Forest's arch rivals Derby County. 







Forest seem to be getting some luck with injuries now as there are no new injury concerns ahead of the visit of Brentford. Due to the way Forest lost against Huddersfield Town at the weekend, it wouldn't be surprising if Stuart Pearce made some changes to his line up. Kelvin Wilson and Matty Fryatt could return after being left out of the squad completely at the weekend. Tom Ince is likely again to feature after recently joining the club on loan from Hull City. One player who definitely not be in the squad is Greg Halford who was yesterday loaned out to Brighton & Hove Albion for a month. This will give Halford some good match practice as he is yet to feature for Forest this season. Long-term absentees Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen are all still unavailable for selection.

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 1-0 Brentford. I think Forest just have to find a way of winning the match, meaning that it may not be the greatest spectacle. Getting the win and the three points in this match is vitally important otherwise they will be falling away from the pace setters at the top of the Championship. Brentford are going to prove very difficult opposition but also different opposition to what Forest have been used to facing recently. Forest have recently been facing very physical opposition in Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town. I think they may be more suited to playing a footballing team such as Brentford. I think that Forest will score a goal late on to claim the three points and I fancy Britt Assombalonga to get it. I hope that Forest can achieve what would be a vitally important win whilst the fireworks are going off up and down the country.

Huddersfield Town 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest today continued their dire run of form as they fell to a 3-0 defeat away to Huddersfield Town. Fragile defending allowed Joel Lynch, Nahki Wells and Grant Holt to all score in what was a well deserved victory for the Terriers. It is a very concerning time for Forest who now haven't won since the 5-3 win over Fulham on the 17th September.

The first half didn't take long to burst into life as Joel Lynch headed Huddersfield 1-0 up after just 45 seconds being played. The Forest defence failed to deal with a throwing into the area and former Forest player Joel Lynch capitalized to put the ball past Karl Darlow. Huddersfield could have found themselves 2-0 up when Fox produced a very good block after Sean Scannell smashed the ball across goal. Forest then responded by pushing up the other end and Henri Lansbury was unlucky not to level the scoring when his shot was pushed over by Smithies. Forest defence was looking very fragile again and Huddersfield had another great chance and could have doubled their lead if it wasn't for a fantastic bit of defending from Eric Lichaj. Huddersfield did go 2-0 in front just moments later as Nahki Wells headed home a Grant Holt cross from inside the box. Forest were having a terrible start and starting to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Tom Ince was given a debut from manager Stuart Pearce after signing on Thursday, and went on a fantastic run through the Huddersfield defence but Joel Lynch managed to get back and prevent Ince from pulling a goal back for Forest. The first half ended with Forest 2-0 down due to very costly errors in defence which looked so solid earlier on in the season.

Forest started the second half brightly as Assombalonga and Antonio combined well on the attack but Antonio's shot was straight at Smithies who saved comfortably. Lansbury then had a chance to feed Assombalonga but instead decided to shoot with his effort sailing over the bar. It was then game over soon after as another former Forest player in Grant Holt finished from a Sean Scannell cross who was terrorizing Danny Fox. Forest found themselves 3-0 down after 55 minutes. Britt Assombalonga had a chance to reduce the deficit when he raced through on goal but Alex Smithies was there again to deny him what would of been a 10th goal of the season. Stuart Pearce then decided to make a rare triple substitution in what was a desperate attempt to get back into the game. Jack Hunt, Ben Osborn and Chris Burke came on to replace Eric Lichaj, Robert Tesche and David Vaughan on the hour mark. It could of got even worse in the 70th minute as Darlow produced a superb save to deny Coady putting Huddersfield 4-0 up. Forest did continue to create chances as Smithies denied Antonio yet again and Tom Ince failed to convert the rebound. Chris Burke almost scored a screamer with around 10 minutes left to play as he let fly from 30 yards out and was left cursing his luck as it hit the underside of the crossbar. Huddersfield then managed to hold out to see the game out and add misery to Forest's dire run of form recently.

Overall, this was a very concerning performance from Forest who are now alarmingly sliding down the table. It is a very different outcome to when we played Huddersfield in August winning 2-0 in the Capital One Cup. This just shows how low the team is on confidence at the moment and how everything seems to be going against us. Questions will have to be asked about Stuart Pearce and the reasons why Forest's season has seemingly started to collapse much earlier than usual. I personally cannot see what has changed recently to cause us to go on such a horrendous run of form. I thought that Tom Ince would inspire and motivate the rest of the team today, but that wasn't the case. It is very disappointing that the 3,000 travelling fans had to go through yet another unacceptable performance from what is a very good team on paper but is failing to deliver. I have no doubt that Fawaz Al-Hasawi will himself be getting concerned and we all know that it doesn't take much for him to make a change. Stuart Pearce needs to make sure he starts getting results again very soon otherwise he will be coming under increasing pressure.

Huddersfield Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (1st November 2014), Forest will go in search of a long-awaited win after crushing to defeat against Blackburn Rovers last weekend. Forest were defeated for the second time this season as Baptiste, Rhodes and Gestede gave Blackburn a 3-1 win. Pearce will be looking for his side to respond this time out at Huddersfield Town.

Huddersfield had a dramatic start to the season as they lost 4-0 at home to Bournemouth on the opening day which ultimately led to Mark Robin's departure. They had a very poor start to the season with only one win in eight league games. Their only win in their first eight league games came at Reading where they won 2-1. They were also knocked out of the Capital One Cup early on courtesy to Forest themselves who claimed a 2-0 victory to get through to the third round. Despite their poor start, Town's new manager Chris Powell has started to turn things around for the Terriers. They have only lost twice to Middlesborough and Leeds United during the nine games in which he has been in charge. Most recently, Huddersfield claimed a valuable away point at Portman Road where they drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town thanks to a brace from Nahki Wells who will prove a significant danger to the Forest defence. In comparison, Forest are starting to slide down the league table as they take a huge dip in form. They have failed to win their last seven games, and have recently started to concede a lot more goals. Their defeat to Blackburn last weekend was their second in the league of the season and arguably the worst performance of the season so far. Pearce questioned the character of his team and they way in which the collapsed defeat from a 1-0 lead at half-time. He will know that they will have to significantly improve in order to get back to winning ways at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Nahki Wells will prove a significant threat to the Forest defence on Saturday after scoring 11 times for Huddersfield since his move from Bradford in January. 






There has been no news this week from Forest about anymore injury concerns ahead of this Saturday's trip to Huddersfield Town. However, Pearce may decide to change the team around a bit after a disappointing performance against Blackburn Rovers last weekend. There is a possibility that Tom Ince may be joining the club on loan from Hull City in time for the match. He would be sure to go straight into the starting line up and provide a huge boost to the team. He has the ability to provide the creativity which Forest have missed so badly from the likes of Andy Reid and Chris Cohen. Jack Hobbs is still on the list of long-term absentees alongside Andy Reid and Chris Cohen.

My prediction for this game is Huddersfield Town 1-3 Nottingham Forest. I think that Forest will end the long winless run and start putting pressure on the teams further up the league table. I think Huddersfield will be much different opposition to what Forest faced back in August in the Capital One Cup. However, I still think Forest will have the strength to end up beating them comfortably. I also think that Tom Ince will have an immediate impact should he arrive on loan. I think his arrival will create a buzz in the dressing room which will help the team claim the three points. I hope that Forest claim the three points and can start looking up the league table again rather than looking down.

Tom Ince

Nottingham Forest have in the last few days been rumoured to be close to completing a loan deal for young winger Tom Ince. Ince is currently at Hull City where he has been a peripheral figure rarely starting so Steve Bruce is willing to loan him out to get him game time.

Rumours about Tom Ince started yesterday, with Forest apparently in negotiations with Hull over the possibility of a one month loan deal. A one month loan deal at the moment seems the most likely but it could be possible for Forest to try and get this extended to 93 days. Even a one month loan deal would provide a much needed boost for a Forest side struggling to get wins lately. Sources such as the Nottingham Post and Sky Sports and now saying that a deal should be agreed before the end of today. However, with Forest you know it may never be that simple. The deal is taking longer to get done due to the fact that other clubs are said to be interested. One of these clubs is said to be Derby who you'd think would do everything in their power to prevent us getting a player of Tom Ince's quality.

Tom Ince is bound to come straight into the team, so the system may have to change a bit in order to accommodate him. There are several possibilities to what Pearce could do. One option is that he could move Michail Antonio to partner Britt Assombalonga up front and then put Ince on the left. We have seen already this season that Antonio can be very effective in that position. Another option is that Pearce could drop Chris Burke to the bench and play Ince in his position would add a bit more pace and creativity to the side. Another possible option would be to play Ince in the Andy Reid role just behind Assombalonga. Ince could be the man to fill the void left by Andy Reid and start creating chances out of nothing again. This is something Forest have missed massively since Reid got injured and probably the main reason they have struggled to get wins. Ince is a player who could provide that spark and go and score a goal when the team isn't necessarily playing that well. However, it is unlikely Pearce would decide to play him in this role as Ince is used to playing out on the wing.

England Under-21 starlet Tom Ince is said to be close to completing a loan move to Forest.








There is no doubt that Ince has fantastic ability and potential to play at the highest level. He has been very unlucky not to get more game time at Hull City since completing his move in the summer. His main success in his career so far came at Blackpool where he scored 31 goals in 100 appearances. He was then linked with many big clubs across the world such as Monaco, Inter Milan and Liverpool. However, he ended up going to Crystal Palace on loan last season in his next step in his career. He ended up scoring 1 goal in 8 appearances for Palace. Then, in the summer he made the permanent switch to Hull City. He has so far failed to make an impact for the Tigers. He has only had 3 appearances and most of these were in the Capital One Cup. Stuart Pearce will know Ince well from the England Under-21 team in which Ince has scored 3 goals in 17 appearances. He would certainly be capable of setting the Championship alight with Nottingham Forest and help them push back up the Sky Bet Championship.

This video shows Ince's ability to score goals with his incredibly dangerous left foot which causes opposition so many problems in the Championship.






Overall, I think Ince would be a great loan signing for Forest. I think he would provide the much needed boost for Forest and help them get back to winning ways. Other teams will be scared of us when they see a lineup of Assombalonga, Antonio and Ince. That attacking threat will surely cause defences so many problems. Hopefully the deal can be wrapped up later to day so that Ince can come straight into the team for the match against Huddersfield and make an impact. He will definitely provide the creativity missed from Andy Reid. I hope Forest can continue to sign these type of top quality players and start to push back up the league table.

Nottingham Forest 1-3 Blackburn Rovers

Nottingham Forest today suffered their second defeat in the space of a week as Blackburn Rovers came back from 1-0 down to win 3-1 at The City Ground. Matty Fryatt gave Forest a 1-0 lead going into half-time but second half goals from Alex Baptiste, Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes saw Rovers produce a stunning comeback.

The game started very slowly with very few chances being created in first ten minutes. The first goal mouth action came in the 13th minute as Jack Hunt found himself in a fantastic position on the right hand side but failed to find Britt Assombalonga in acres of space in the box and instead placed the ball into Jason Steele's hands. Matty Fryatt had the first big chance of the match as he ran at the Blackburn defence but failed to find the finishing touch. However, Fryatt never looked like scoring the chance as you always fancied the defender to get the better of him. Forest now seemed to be upping the tempo in what was another disappointing start to the game. Michail Antonio picked the ball up in a dangerous position on the left hand side and put in a cross which just failed to find Britt Assombalonga who would have had a tap in. Britt Assombalonga was causing the Blackburn defence problems with his pace and movement and he won a free-kick as he skipped past their defence. David Vaughan stepped up to take it and failed to deliver as his shot was blocked comfortably. Forest finally managed to make the breakthrough in the 37th minute as Assombalonga found himself in a pocket of space and hit a beautiful shot on the outside of his right foot which hit the inside of the post but was followed in by Matty Fryatt to make it 1-0. Assombalonga then had another great chance to double Forest's advantage as he ran clear on the stroke of half time but hit his shot wide of the post when he should have done better.

Blackburn started to come back into the game at the start of the second half as they pushed up the pitch. Forest had conceded six goals in three games prior to this match and looked a liability again after a scrap in the area almost dropped for Jordan Rhodes to volley home. Blackburn dominated the start of the second half causing the Forest defence all sorts of problems. Then came what I think was the turning point in the game. Pearce made an incredibly strange decision in substituting Matty Fryatt for Henri Lansbury and at the same time Blackburn substituted Evans for Rudy Gestede. These subs showed the different intentions of the two sides. They got the equalizer they deserved in the 66th minute as the inform Ben Marshall but a dangerous ball into the box which was blasted home by Alex Baptiste at the back post. Pearce's substitution Lansbury almost immediately restored Forest's lead as Burke put in a low cross from the right hand side by Lansbury could only hit Jason Steele when it looked easier to score. Lansbury then picked the ball up again on the edge of the area and tried an ambitious effort which agonizingly hit the inside of the post. Blackburn then dealt what was the killer blow for Forest in the 75th minute as Dan Harding failed to prevent the ball coming into the box and it was headed home with ease by Rudy Gestede to make it 2-1 to the visitors. Forest then seemed to collapse as Jordan Rhodes picked up the ball and ran past Forest defender Michael Mancienne before smashing the ball low into the corner of the net in what was a fantastic finish to make it 3-1. Jamie Paterson then came on for Robert Tesche in the 80th minute but failed to make an impact in the game as he had several chances to cause the Blackburn problems. It could of been four or five for Blackburn in the final minutes as Forest pushed to get back into the game leaving themselves open. Blackburn then played the game out to claim a thoroughly deserved win against a Forest side looking short of ideas.

Overall, this was an absolutely shocking display from Forest and definitely the worst performance of the season so far. Even when Forest were leading 1-0 for majority of the game, it never felt like they would go on to win the game. The passing was disjointed as the team struggled to create chances. Pearce's game management was also questionable as taking Matty Fryatt off for Henri Lansbury when 1-0 up was a very strange decision. It was also concerning that when Forest conceded it almost seemed as though it was inevitable that Blackburn would then go on to win the game. There didn't appear to be any belief from the players probably due to the lack of leadership on the pitch. Players missing such as Andy Reid, Chris Cohen and Jack Hobbs provide that leadership and ability to drive the team forward. It is a very concerning time at the moment as with the way the team are playing in every area of the pitch you can't see where the next win is going to come from.

Blackburn Home Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (25th October 2014), Forest will look to get back to winning ways after six league games without claiming three points. Forest will look to build on what was a very credible point earned in the 2-2 draw at Watford on Tuesday with a win on Saturday at The City Ground. To do this they will have to overcome a solid Blackburn Rovers side.

Blackburn Rovers have had a reasonable start to the season. Gary Bowyer has provided stability at Ewood Park after what was an incredible period where they seemed to be sacking managers left, right and centre. Blackburn haven't set the Championship alight since being relegated from the Premier League, and this season they should be finally targeting at least a play-off place. This is due to the experience they have in their side of what it takes to succeed in the Championship. Their front two of Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes are reliable strikers who will always get goals no matter who they play for. Despite this, Rovers have recently struggled for wins. Tuesday's 1-0 win against 10-man Birmingham City was their first win in five games. Ben Marshall gave Rovers the win and he has already scored five goals this season. In comparison, Forest have also recently been struggling to get any form going. They have failed to win in any of their last six league matches, consisting of five draws and one defeat. However, Tuesday nights 2-2 draw at Watford was a very good result considering the flying form the Hornets were in and the attacking threat that they possessed. Forest will know that they need to add a much needed win to that to make sure that they stay in the play-off places and keep putting pressure on the teams at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.






Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes have proved to be a lethal partnership for Blackburn as they look to push for the play-off places this season.








Forest did not return from Vicarage Road on Tuesday with any fresh injury concerns. Henri Lansbury will provide a selection boost for Stuart Pearce as he returns from selection for this fixture. However, he will have to try and beat the likes of Robert Tesche, Ben Osborn and David Vaughan to a place in the starting line-up. There were several rumours during the week that Aston Villa starlet Jack Grealish could be joining Forest on loan. However, any sort of deal is now very unlikely to take place before Saturday's match. Forest are also still without long-term absentees Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen.

My prediction for this game is Nottingham Forest 2-0 Blackburn Rovers. I think Forest will get back to winning ways on home turf. The game is set to be a bumper crowd so I'm sure that the Forest faithful can get behind the team and make sure they claim all three points. I think it will be a very tough game as Rovers are a solid outfit who will be difficult to break down. However, I think Forest have the attacking threat and patience which is needed in order to break them down and win the match. Jordan Rhodes and Rudy Gestede will cause the Forest defence problems, but hopefully Pearce has had them working on how to deal with this threat all week. I hope that Forest can claim the victory and begin their push back up the league table.