Team News
Simon Cox suffered ligament damage in his foot while on international duty with Ireland but may be able to play. Dexter Blackstock withdrew from the Antigua and Barbuda squad with a slight back problem but should also be available. Henri Lansbury will be in contention to make the bench after making good progress with his ankle injury.
The two week gap will have let the players who missed the Peterborough game recover from their knocks so Lee Clark will have most of his squad to choose from, though Carr is now confirmed out for six months, following surgery. Get well soon our Club Captain!
Last Meeting
Our last meeting took place at the end of February and turned out to be our only home league defeat of the season. Forest won 2-1 with the winner scored by Dexter Blackstock after Chris Burke had equalised. The last game at the City Ground finished 3-1 to Blues and proved to be the end for Steve McClaren.
Recent Form
Forest are third after two wins and two draws in their opening fixtures. The wins have both come at home.
Blues sit just outside the relegation zone with just one win from the opening four matches. Away from home they have lost the last four games in all competitions. Their last away win was at the beginning of April.
Outlook
So it’s not been the best start to the season has it. Despite having an arguably stronger squad than last season Blues have gained only one scrappy win and were also knocked out of the league cup by League One Coventry. The team appears to be struggling to settle into the way the manager wants them to play and a lot of last year’s high performers are not delivering so far. There is also the sense that Lee Clark is yet to discover his best team as he is playing different personnel in different formations every game. Perhaps it would be better to just pick one first eleven and stick with it for a few games.
Since our last game we have signed Leroy Lita on loan from Swansea which I think is a good signing. He has scored goals at this level before and adds pace up front which is something we are missing. Paul Caddis looks a good addition although it is a shame that we had to send Adam Rooney to Swindon as part of the deal. He was never going to be a top striker but he did have a very good goals to games ratio and always gave his all. Lita may well contribute more though maybe as a supporting player to King or even replacing him while Marlon takes time out to learn the offside rule. There has also been a lot of talk in the last couple of days about potential buyers but I don’t expect that to be resolved quickly. Hopefully it won’t prove to be too much of a distraction.
Four games is nowhere near long enough to make any judgements on our season and the new manager and I find it ridiculous that some people are panicking already. It’s worth remembering that we only won one of the first four last year as well and Reading had a terrible start before going on to win the league. By the time the next international break comes along we will have a better idea of how we stand. Tomorrow’s game will be tough as we find Forest in a much better position than when we last visited them. They have new owners and have strengthened. They will probably remain in the top six for most of the season. I do not expect us to win but perhaps with a bit of fight and more discipline at the back we can come away with a point.
My Prediction Nottingham Forest 1 Blues 1.
C’mon you Blue Boys
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