Today’s trip to the City Ground feels like a proper test of our mettle as we hunt for that vital top four spot.
While last season’s title win feels like a lifetime ago given our inconsistent form this term, Arne Slot seems to have steadied the ship recently.
That gritty 1-0 win at Sunderland showed a defensive resilience we have lacked at times, and we will need every bit of it this afternoon.
Forest are a strange beast right now. They are languishing near the bottom of the table, yet they completely dismantled us 3-0 at Anfield back in November.
With Vítor Pereira taking charge of his first home game following their impressive midweek result in Europe, the atmosphere in Nottingham will be electric. We cannot afford another sluggish start against the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White.
Losing Wataru Endo to injury is a blow for our midfield balance and Jeremie Frimpong hasn’t recovered from a muscle injury in time for this game.
However, if we can control the tempo and avoid the defensive lapses that cost us in the reverse fixture, we should have enough quality to claim all three points.
