Blackpool Away Pre-Match Preview

On Saturday (14th February 2015), Dougie Freedman will look to make it three wins on the bounce as his Forest side visit Bloomfield Road to play Blackpool. He will want to build on two very precious wins against Brighton and Wigan and make sure it is three wins out of three and maximum points for his time in charge so far.

Blackpool have endured a horrid 2014/15 season to date, and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon. They began the season with Jose Riga in charge and in their first game they lost 2-0 to Forest at the City Ground in what was Stuart Pearce's first game in charge. There was major controversy over Blackpool at the beginning of the season when they only had eight players signed on just a matter of weeks before the campaign began. This set off lots of protests over owner Karl Oyston which are still going on to this date. Lee Clark was appointed to continue Blackpool's struggles, and not too much appears to have changed. Some of Blackpool's worst defeats this season have been 4-2 away to Huddersfield, 6-1 at home to Bournemouth, 7-2 away to Watford, 4-0 away to Norwich and many more. However, last time out they only narrowly lost late on to Middlesborough who are challenging at the top of the Championship. In comparison, Forest have got the feel good factor about them once again under new manager Dougie Freedman. He has so far led them to two wins out of two against Brighton away which was won 3-2 and Wigan at home which was won 3-0. This has reignited Forest's hope to get something out of the season and at the same time diminishing any chances of relegation. Forest did suffer some bad news in the form that Britt Assombalonga will miss a years worth of football after coming off injured against Wigan. Freedman will now be looking for his other strikers such as Dexter Blackstock and Matty Fryatt to step up to the plate and fill Assombalonga's boots.

Chris Burke celebrates with Henri Lansbury after putting Forest 2-0 up against Wigan at the City Ground.






Forest will be travelling to Bloomfield road without star striker Britt Assombalonga who picked up a nasty injury against Wigan on Wednesday night and will now miss a years worth of football. This game is likely to come too soon for Michael Mancienne and Kelvin Wilson who are both set to return to training on Monday morning. Apart from that, the only other long-term absentees are Chris Cohen and Andy Reid with the latter not too far away from returning to full fitness.

My prediction for this game is Blackpool 0-2 Nottingham Forest. I think Forest will be too much for Blackpool who are a team really struggling to do anything in the Championship this season with every point being a bonus for them. I think the quality Forest have even without Britt Assombalonga will shine through on the day and allow them to collect all three points. The pitch is my only concern but professional football players should be able to play on any surface.