Forest and Preston face off with both sides looking to end the season on a high

Nottingham Forest welcome Preston North End to the City Ground on the final day of the EFL Championship season.

It’s been a disappointing season for both Forest and North End. After spending most of the 2019/20 campaign challenging for a place in the playoffs, only to miss out right at the end, they have have found themselves this year in and around the bottom half of the Championship.

The home side have no doubt had the tougher of seasons as they been in the thick of a relegation battle, but just one defeat from their previous eight games has ensured their Championship status.

Chris Hughton’s men come into their final home match off the back of three draws, the most recent of which a goalless draw at relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday. A missed penalty from Lewis Grabban on the stroke of half-time meant that the Reds left Hillsborough with just a point.

Meanwhile for managerless Preston, they go into this having won their last three games and have kept a clean sheet in five of their last six. They beat Premier League hopefuls Barnsley at Deepdale last weekend 2-0, thanks to goals from Jordan Storey and Chad Evans either side of half-time.

It’s a nothing to play for affair at the City Ground, however both sides will be looking to conclude the season on a positive note. A win for Forest could see them leapfrog above Blackburn in 15th, while three points for Preston would guarantee they finish the season in 13th place.

Team News

Nottingham Forest

Chris Hughton confirmed in his press conference that Sammy Ameobi is back in training following an ankle injury but won’t feature in their final game of the season. Luke Freeman and Joe Lolley are also unavailable.

Preston North End

Daniel Johnson, Declan Rudd, Patrick Bauer, and Joe Rafferty are all to miss North’s End trip to the East Midlands.

Last Time out

Grabban may have had in penalty saved by Kieron Westwood last week, but his spot kick earned Nottingham Forest the victory in the reverse fixture at Deepdale on January 2. It ended what had been a nine game winless run against the Lillywhites.

 

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