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.
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