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.

Watford 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest today responded from Saturday's defeat at Cardiff by coming from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw away at Watford. Two Michail Antonio cancelled out goals from Odion Ighalo and Matej Vydra either side of half time. Forest will overall be happy with a point after Watford dominated large periods of the game.

Forest started the first half at Vicarage Road very brightly. Michail Antonio had a good chance to open the scoring but failed to connect with Eric Lichaj's cross after Assombalonga challenged for a header. Watford also started well in what looked like it was going to be a very good Sky Bet Championship encounter. Fernando Forestieri forced Darlow into a very good save when he took an ambitious shot from around 20 yards out. Michail Antonio was looking a threat for Forest as he has been so many times this season. He put a dangerous low cross into the Watford area in the 15th minute but Watford keeper Gomes managed to keep hold of it and prevent any rebounds. David Vaughan was rewarded for his performance on Saturday with a starting place and he had a free-kick which almost creeped in at the far post but Watford were able to clear for a corner. In the 20th minute, Forest relied on Darlow as he made a low save from the ever dangerous Matej Vydra who is in red hot form at the moment. Soon after Kelvin Wilson had a header go just over the crossbar from another Vaughan free-kick. Wilson may have felt he could have done a bit better with the header and at least got it on target. Watford started to get more into the game and start their fluid attacking play and were rewarded in the 29th minute. Forest's defence failed to deal with a Watford attack down the left hand side which allowed Odion Ighalo to prod in from close range and give Watford a 1-0 lead. Eric Lichaj could be again blamed for this goal, his selection was a slight surprise due to the fact he had been arguably at fault for both goals conceded at Cardiff on Saturday. However, Watford's celebrations were short lived as in the 31st Michail Antonio picked up the ball on the left hand side and went on a brilliant solo run into the box and slotted the ball past Gomes to make it 1-1. Watford responded by going back onto the attack and in the 37th minute Munari had a low shot just go past Darlow's post. Watford ended the first half very well and Forest could have seen themselves as lucky to end the half with eleven men still on the pitch. Matej Vydra was taken down by Forest defender Michael Mancienne when he appeared to be the last man. However, the referee saw it differently and Forest found themselves lucky to still be level at 1-1 after Watford dominated the first half.

Watford started the second half as they finished the first. They attacked the Forest defence winning several corners and piling the pressure on. They just couldn't seem to find the finishing touch to retake the lead in the game. However, their pressure was rewarded in the 52nd minute when Watford won a penalty. Ben Osborn was the culprit as he gave away a very soft penalty by pushing Vydra over in the area. Vydra himself stepped up to take the penalty and converted the penalty to the right hand side of the goal with Darlow guessing the wrong way. Forest appeared to wake up a bit again after going behind and began to try and take the game to Watford. Forest managed to get back into the game as Burke dribbled for around 60 yards down the right hand side and put a beautiful cross into the back post for Antonio to power a header home to make it 2-2 in the 67th minute. This set the game up for a fascinating final twenty minutes or so. Now Watford decided to start attacking again in an attempt to take the lead for the third time in the match in what was turning into an unpredictable game. Chris Burke and Michail Antonio switched sides in the 80th minute in an attempt to maybe snatch a late winner for Forest. Darlow again popped up with a fantastic save to deny Watford sub Troy Deeney from winning the game for Watford. Matty Fryatt replaced Britt Assombalonga in the 90th minute with both teams looking for a winner. However, neither side could find a late winner and Forest prevented the league leaders from extending their lead.

Overall, it was a good response from Forest after a disappointing result on Saturday. Forest again showed the character implemented into the squad from Stuart Pearce by coming back from behind twice. The defence again cost us what could have been a fantastic win. Individual mistakes are currently costing us as Lichaj made some on Saturday and then tonight Osborn gave away a very cheap penalty. It was a great performance from Michail Antonio who added another two goals to his tally for the season, quickly catching up with Forest striker Britt Assombalonga. Some fans will complain about another draw, but this could turn out to be a very good point if Forest go on to beat Blackburn Rovers at the City Ground on Saturday. However, you cannot fault the effort from Forest in this match as not many teams will come away with anything from Vicarage Road this season.

Future of Jamaal Lascelles and Jack Hunt

The future of two Forest defenders is currently uncertain with Jack Hunt and Jamaal Lascelles now potentially leaving the club in January. It is not the news Forest fans will want to hear after Forest suffered their first league defeat on Saturday losing 2-1 at Cardiff. However, there now seems to be a chance that both players could leave the club in the new year.

Forest signed Jack Hunt in the summer from Crystal Palace on a loan deal until January. This was a deal done between Stuart Pearce and then Palace manager Tony Pulis. Since the start of the season Hunt has impressed in the right back position for Forest with several impressive performances. However, some supporters would argue maybe harshly that Hunt's performances of late haven't met those early season standards. Due to Hunt's impressive start to the season, Pearce began to negotiate a permanent deal with Palace when Pulis was still in charge. According to Pearce a deal had been agreed and they just needed to negotiate terms with the player himself which they failed to do in time before the transfer window shut. However, only a couple of weeks ago Pearce confirmed that they had agreed personal terms with Hunt. Pearce then later found out that Palace had now doubled their asking price for Hunt and had changed their original agreement. It is not known whether new manager Neil Warnock had anything to do with this as Palace co-chairman Steve Parish seems to take control of most transfer negotiations. This was a huge blow for Forest who thought they had managed to land the player on a permanent basis. It would be a huge blow for Forest to lose a player of his quality in January and then have to quickly find a replacement. Palace paid around £2 million for the player not too long ago and have warned Forest that several other clubs including Premiership clubs are interested in the player. Forest are still desperately trying to sort out a permanent deal though, with negotiations still going on between the two clubs. However, Pearce made it clear during the summer that he will not pay over the odds for any player which makes this deal much more difficult to complete.

Jack Hunt could be returning to Crystal Palace in January with Forest so far failing to agree a permanent deal for the player.

In addition to this there has also been recent rumours about the future of Jamaal Lascelles. Alan Pardew is said to be keen to bring Lascelles into Newcastle earlier than planned. The original deal was that Newcastle paid £7 million to buy Forest pair Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles and loan them back to Forest for the rest of the season with no recall clause. However, Pardew is now seemingly going back on this agreement and trying to get Lascelles back as early as January. He is claiming he is very short of defenders and needs cover. Newcastle have had a terrible start to the season winning their first game yesterday and they still remain in the bottom three. This could be why Pardew is appearing desperate to get Lascelles in earlier than planned. This is surprising considering Lascelles has struggled to even get in the Forest team of late with Michael Mancienne and Kelvin Wilson keeping him out of the team. Newcastle are said to be tempting Forest by offering Steven Taylor in exchange for getting Lascelles back earlier. This causes more confusion however as if they were short of defenders why would they then exchange a defender for a defender? Pardew must think that Lascelles can have a significant impact at Newcastle to make such a desperate attempt to get the loan ended early. This deal seems unlikely to happen but this could develop in the next few weeks possibly depending on how Newcastle themselves perform. It is unlikely that Pearce would allow one of his better younger players who he rates very highly leave in January. However, he is not short of cover in that position with many players who can play it such as Mancienne, Wilson, Hobbs, Fox, Halford and Collins. We will have to wait and see what happens with this rumour as it certainly has potential. 

One thing that these two rumours do show is that no agreements are solid agreements which can't be changed. We have seen this so many times at Forest, most recently the Jack Hobbs deal back in January when in the end we had to pay out around £1 million to keep him permanently. Palace have this week shown that they have gone back on a agreement and doubled their price for Hunt. Then, recently Newcastle have also gone back on a agreement and now want Lascelles back in January when he was loaned out for the whole season with no recall clause. All of this shows that the transfer system needs to be sorted out as it is turning into complete shambles. Whatever happens with these two deals I am sure Pearce will make the correct decision for the benefit of Forest.

Watford Away Pre-Match Preview

On Tuesday (21st October 2014), Forest will look to bounce back from their first defeat in the league of the season. Forest returned from the international break with a defeat against Cardiff City as two defensive errors cost them as Macheda and Whittingham gave Cardiff a well-deserved 2-0 win. On Tuesday, Forest will face the challenge of trying to get back to winning ways at Vicarage Road where they face Watford.

Watford have had an incredible start to the season on and off the pitch. Watford are now on their 4th manager already this season after it not working out for several reasons with the other three managers. Watford have so far played under Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay and now Slavisa Jokanovic. However, the constant managerial changes haven't affected matters on the pitch as Watford are sitting pretty at the top of the Sky Bet Championship table. Watford are undefeated in six games, winning three of them. Most recently, they achieved an emphatic 3-0 away victory at Sheffield Wednesday, again showing why they are arguably the best attacking team in the division. In comparison, Forest's form has hit a brick wall. After a run of four consecutive draws, Forest fell to their first defeat of the season against Cardiff City. Forest have been playing very averagely recently and are facing a huge test at Watford. They have struggled to control games since losing Andy Reid through injury. However, Britt Assombalonga has got back on the score sheet after four games without a goal. Forest will know that they will have to massively improve their performance if they are going to take anything from Vicarage Road. It will be a real test of Forest's promotion credentials to see if they have the character to bounce back from a defeat.

Slavisa Jokanovic is Watford's fourth manager already this season, yet they still sit top of the Sky Bet Championship table.







Forest don't face any additional injury problems ahead of this fixture. However, midfielder Henri Lansbury will miss out through suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Cardiff City. Danny Fox should be back available after not being available for selection against Cardiff due to a hamstring injury. Jamie Paterson will be hoping to be back in the squad after missing out on the trip to Cardiff. Forest also still have the long-term absentees of Jack Hobbs, Andy Reid and Chris Cohen.

My prediction for this game is Watford 3-1 Nottingham Forest. I think Forest are going to suffer their second defeat within four days due to the fantastic form Watford are in at the moment. Forest's defence is going to have its hands full against the likes of Vydra who will look to exploit them as Cardiff did successfully on Saturday. However, Forest do have their own threat with the likes of Michail Antonio and Britt Assombalonga who took his goal tally to 9 against Cardiff. I think Watford will be too strong for Forest and continue their fine form. I hope I am wrong and that Forest can bounce back from their first defeat immediately with a victory.

Cardiff City 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Russell Slade's Cardiff City have today ended Forest's unbeaten run in the Sky Bet Championship. Two costly defensive errors in the first half, allowed Federico Macheda and Peter Whittingham to put Cardiff 2-0 up. Forest did manage to pull a goal back late in the second half through Britt Assombalonga, but it was too late to change the outcome of the game.

Forest started the first half brightly with Matty Fryatt forcing David Marshall into a good save to turn the ball around the post. Forest looked very dominate in the first 20 minutes, Chris Burke causing havoc for Cardiff left back Ralls. Burke went past the left back several times but his final ball failed to deliver. One clear cut chance was when Burke neatly dribbled past Ralls and had a shot turned off the line by Craig Noone. This turned out to be a huge turning point in the game. Cardiff managed to clear their lines and immediately went on the counter attack. Federico Macheda picked the ball up and ran at the Forest defence. Eric Lichaj backed off, allowing Macheda to go past around three Forest players and put the ball past Karl Darlow. It was shocking defending from Lichaj who should have closed Macheda down a lot better. Forest lost their flow in the game and within five minutes Cardiff were 2-0 up. Peter Whittingham picked the ball up on the edge of the box and drilled a shot into the net at Karl Darlow's near post. Darlow could possibly have done better with this, as no goalkeeper should be beaten at their near post. However, the Forest defence should have known pre-match about Whittingham's threat when on his left foot and closed him down a lot quicker. Lichaj was maybe again arguably at fault as the goal came from his side. Forest struggled to keep the ball for the rest of the first half, with Cardiff controlling the game.

Stuart Pearce made a change at half-time with Dan Harding replacing Eric Lichaj who had a horrid time in the first half. The change didn't seem to have any impact with Cardiff still having full control of the game. Forest's passing was poor, and Forest appear to be missing Andy Reid massively as he can control the play and rarely misses a pass. Forest did appear to have halved the deficit when he converted a rebound from a Michail Antonio shot, but he was ruled off for offside. Looking back on the Sky Sports replay, he did appear to be marginally offside. Karl Darlow also prevented Forest from going 3-0 down at the other end, where Whittingham's set pieces were causing all sorts of problems. Whittingham whipped in a beautiful free kick and found Sean Morrison who had his header saved from point blank range. Forest did slightly improve when David Vaughan came on for Henri Lansbury in the 57th minute. Forest suddenly came alive in the final ten minutes and deservedly got a goal back in the 89th minute, with Assombalonga smashing the ball into the net after fantastic work from Michail Antonio down the right hand side. Antonio had a relatively quiet game before the final period of the game, rarely troubling the Cardiff defence. Forest piled the pressure on Cardiff at the end but failed to equalize and lost their unbeaten record in the process. 

Overall, it was a very disappointing performance and result for Forest. We seem to have lost the fluid passing and football which we had at the beginning of the season. The defence also seems to be more liable to mistakes recently having now conceded four goals in the last two games. Andy Reid is being massively missed in midfield, due to his ability to pick out that key pass. One positive was that Assombalonga has now managed to add to his tally which has taken him to 9 goals, just as many as any Forest player managed last season. Forest and Pearce will know that they will have to massively improve their performance if they are going to get anything up at Vicarage Road on Tuesday when they play Watford.

Cardiff Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (18th October 2014), the Sky Bet Championship finally returns after the international break. Forest finished for the international break in dramatic style with Michail Antonio equalising in the dying moments against Ipswich Town. On Saturday, Forest have a much more different, and arguably more difficult challenge in front of them as they face Cardiff City under new manager Russell Slade. 

The form of both teams has stalled in recent weeks. Cardiff started off the season very brightly and looked like they were going to be potential challengers for promotion come the end of the season. However, they have failed to win any of their last five league matches. They have recently found a replacement in Russell Slade for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Maybe, Vincent Tan will look back at the end of the season and regret taking so long to find a replacement for Solskjaer. The performances of Cardiff haven't been great recent weeks, most notably the 1-0 defeat away to Blackpool before the international break. The team is said to be very low on confidence at the moment. However, the new manager may have brought a feel good factor back to the club. In comparison, Forest's form has also stalled recently but not in such a dramatic style. Forest have failed to win any of their last four league matches, drawing all of them. Forest have recently lost their goal scoring ability which they found with ease at the beginning of the season. This could largely be down to the loss of Andy Reid through injury who has now been ruled out for the rest of the year with a groin problem. However, Forest have been very difficult to break down of late and Cardiff will have a tough job to break them down. Forest will be looking to get back to winning ways on Saturday and return back to the top of the table. Cardiff are currently sat 15th in the table with Forest 2nd. On league position it would appear a good chance for Forest to get back to winning ways. However, my opinion is the Championship is the most unpredictable league in the world so league position is meaningless at this stage.






Russell Slade enjoyed a very successful time at Leyton Orient and will be looking to bring Cardiff City more success and return them to the Premier League.







Forest are facing no fresh injury concerns ahead of this game. However, Forest were hit with the devastating news that Andy Reid will miss the rest of the year with a groin injury. This is a huge blow for Forest due to how influential Reid is to their attacking play. Jack Hobbs is expected to be out for another three months so is not fit to play. Chris Cohen is the only other long term injury for Forest. David Vaughan may be back in contention for this game after missing the last few weeks due to injury. This will prove a boost to Pearce when selecting midfield options.

My prediction for this game is Cardiff City 1-2 Nottingham Forest. I think Forest's defence will be tested massively in a similar way to the games at Sheffield Wednesday and Bournemouth. However, I think Forest's attacking threat with Antonio and Assombalonga will be too much for Cardiff to deal with especially on the counter attack. I'm hoping I will be correct and Forest can return from the Welsh capital with three points and return back to the top of the league.

Forest's relationship with local neighbours County

Since Stuart Peace took charge of Nottingham Forest on 1st July 2014, he has forever emphasized the importance of youth to the club. We have seen the quality of our younger players in the likes of Ben Osborn, Jamie Paterson, Stephen McLaughlin and many others who have been rewarded with first team opportunities. Pearce has often said how he'd rather give chances to younger players than bring any new players into the club. With financial fair play on the horizon also, the development of youth players at clubs across the country is becoming increasingly important.

One way Pearce has been recently aiding the development of our younger players is by loaning them to our local neighbours Notts County. It seems an obvious option, however managers from the recent past have never seemed to recognize it. We have now loaned two of our young promising players in Louis Laing and Stephen McLaughlin to County, to help aid their development and improve them as players. I think this loaning system has a range of benefits to Forest as a club.

One is that a couple of months down the line we will have two players returning to the club who have improved as players and gained first team experience. League 1 is a good league for our young players to gain experience in as this league has produced many stars in the past, most recently our own striker Britt Assombalonga. It provides them with experience of the harsh reality of the Football League and having to play two games most weeks. They will also relish the first team opportunities they are getting at County and hope they perform well enough to impress Pearce and be future Forest first team regulars. From recent reports on County, it appears both players are performing to a very good standard. I don't think it is any coincidence that since the two players have gone to County, their form has significantly improved.

Another benefit is that it improves Forest's relationship with other clubs. This is one thing Pearce seems to be very good at, and our previous manager definitely was not. Pearce seems to have the contacts and relationships with other clubs to help improve our own. By loaning two of our younger players out to a club like County helps improve our relationship with them further which could prove to be a huge benefit in the long term. An example is that Pearce will be currently improving his relationship with County boss Shaun Derry. Derry is an upcoming manager with potentially a very bright managerial career ahead of him. This could lead to him getting a very good job with a team in the Premiership for example. Due to Pearce improving his relationship with Derry now, it may mean in the future we may be able to negotiate with Derry again and get some Premiership quality players on loan for ourselves. This is a very long term benefit of loaning our players to lower league clubs, but could have an influence on future negotiations between Forest and other clubs.

The most obvious gain for Forest of loaning these players out is that it also reduces the wage bill. Financial fair play is something that could affect many Championship clubs including Forest. By loaning these players out it helps reduce the wage bill, and maybe create space for Forest to loan in some players themselves. With the recent injuries to Andy Reid, David Vaughan, Jack Hobbs and Chris Cohen this is something which could be on the horizon for Pearce. Forest should also consider using the loan market for Djamal Abdoun. If reports during the summer were correct he is currently sat on a ridiculous wage for doing pretty much nothing for the benefit of Forest. If Forest could get him off the wage bill, it would help massively free up the wage bill and maybe create space for more than one player to come in on loan.

In summary, I think loaning our younger players out to Notts County is a masterstroke from Pearce and should be continued in the future. It benefits the club in a range of ways and we will learn the real success of the loans when Laing and McLaughlin return to the club and we see how well they have developed as players.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to Forever Forest!

Welcome to the Forever Forest Blog,

This is being run by a young budding journalist who is a proud supporter of Nottingham Forest Football Club. I decided to set this up to blog on something which I am passionate about and to get some experience of blogging to help develop my career in journalism. All of my opinions are my own and I hope that you all enjoy reading them!