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.