Nottingham Forest host Bournemouth as Chris Hughton’s side target more breathing space on drop zone

When Nottingham Forest travelled to Bournemouth towards the end of last year, the Reds were on a run of just two defeats in eight matches; the Cherries, meanwhile, inflicted a second consecutive defeat, adding further pain on a Forest side about to go on a winless run of seven matches.

The narrative seems to be similar, however, as Chris Hughton’s side prepare to host Bournemouth this Saturday (February 13). The Midlanders, unbeaten in three league outings, have lost just one of their ten Championship matches – a run stretching back to December 15.

One major difference between the two sides ahead of Saturday’s match-up and the reverse fixture is the form of the South Coast opponents.

A run of just one win in eight – and four consecutive League defeats – signalled the end of Jason Tindall’s rather brief stay at the Vitality Stadium. A shock sacking, some might argue, given the former Cherries player was appointed only in August following Eddie Howe’s departure.

The form has picked up marginally under caretaker boss Jonathan Woodgate – a man who himself only joined the Cherries’ coaching set up two days prior to Tindall’s exit. A 3-2 victory over Birmingham City ended their dismal run, and a 2-0 away win at Premier League Burnley sent the Cherries into FA Cup quarter-finals.

Having beaten Wycombe Wanderers last time out, a dominant 3-0 win at Adams Park, Nottingham Forest now find themselves in 18th, four points clear of the relegation zone.

While the Reds have now formed a buffer zone between themselves and the drop zone, the fact that Rotherham (20th, 29 points) and Derby County (22nd, 28 points) have games in hand means that pressure continues to be on boss Chris Hughton.

Hughton, without Scott McKenna for another match due to the defender’s continued knee injury, rallied his troops ahead of Saturday’s clash, demanding his side to continue closing the gap between themselves and mid-table.

He said: “It’s a big game. On the back of a good run I’d like to think we’re in a better place now than when we last played them on a night where I thought we did ok. Irrespective of their recent change of manager, Bournemouth have some very good players and they are a team who will certainly be pushing for promotion come the end of the season.

“We’ve picked up some excellent results over a period of time but at the same time, teams around us in the league have also been getting good results. While we haven’t moved up the table, we have closed the gap quite significantly on the five or six teams above us and we need to make sure that gap closes even further over the course of the next few games.”

Should the Reds hope to pick up a positive result, however, they will require an encouraging performance from January singing Filip Krovinovic. The five-foot-ten central midfielder struggled against the physicality of Wycombe’s defence last time out and could struggle again when Bournemouth.

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Krovinovic likes to have chances come through him. Against the Chairboys, the 27-year-old won just one of six loose balls and lost the ball on 11 occasions. That mostly came due to a lack of an aerial presence, but also when the opposition looked to force an error with a tight press.

Bournemouth, another team who look to close players down quickly, could attempt to force a similar frustration against Forest. The Cherries limited Burnley’s attacking chances to just two shots on target and the south coast side won 60 per cent of their aerial duels.

Where Tindall’s side did look fragile, however, was a minor inability to deal with loose balls, flick-ons and corners. With a relatively physical attacking line, led likely by Glenn Murray or Lyle Taylor, the Reds may look to deploy a more physical presence up-front who can feed the ball to on-running team-mates.

For Nottingham Forest, picking up points is a do or die issue at this stage of the season. After matches against Bournemouth, Swansea City and Blackburn Rovers, Hughton’s side will take on bottom-half rivals Rotherham and Luton Town – as well as an East Midlands derby to wrap up February.

It is vital, therefore, that Forest aim to further frustrate Bournemouth’s run to the play-offs and collect at least a point ahead of a series of difficult matches.