Nottingham Forest back to league priorities with weekend trip to Blackpool

 

Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest travel to Bloomfield Road as they begin a congested run of fixtures to try and secure a top-six place in the Championship table.

Following the Reds’ credible showing in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup Quarter-Finals, they will look to pick up from where they left off in the league following a superb 3-1 victory over QPR at The City Ground.

Since the turn of the year, Forest have continued on their upward trajectory, winning eights games, drawing three and suffering just a single defeat in a disappointing showing at The Cardiff City Stadium in a 2-1 loss.

Sprinkled with some magical cup moments against Arsenal, holders Leicester City and promotion rival Huddersfield Town, supporters on the banks of the River Trent have not felt as optimistic about this current crop of players and manager for at least a decade.

Going into the trip to Blackpool on Saturday, Forest will remain without the influential presence of defender Scott McKenna, a contender for their Player of the Season, who is likely to be sidelined until April with a hamstring injury sustained in the QPR win.

Steve Cook, a January signing from Bournemouth, is also injured (ankle) and it’s also likely that he will be unavailable for a similar period. In reverting to a 3-4-3 formation under Cooper, Forest have maximised the number of ball-playing players within their team, allowing the likes of Max Lowe (sidelined) and outstanding Djed Spence to effectively play as wingers in the team.

Cooper had opted for a 4-3-3 formation against Liverpool following the disruption at the back, with Portuguese centre back Tobi Figueiredo partnered with Joe Worrall.

With Figueiredo’s lesser ability on the ball and US goalkeeper Evan Horvath still working hard on his distribution, Forest may face a higher press coming into their final ten games.

Brice Samba may well be called back into action with Horvath returning from Costa Rica, an unused substitute in the USA’s 2-0 defeat.

Whilst to a man, Forest had given a good account of themselves, with Spence being deployed further back, there is a concern that the Reds could have their attacking purpose depleted.

With Max Lowe also out for the month, Forest’s natural ability to get players higher up the pitch has also been reduced on the left flank. The experienced Jack Colback will retreat further back due to adopting a back four.

Colback, not a stranger to the position from his days at Newcastle, has also been a player in exceptional form since establishing himself under Cooper. Still, there will be greater responsibility placed on those in attacking positions to be more ruthless in front of goal when opportunities arise.

Supposing a criticism that could be levelled at Cooper’s men despite their impressive run of form, The Reds could have doubled their goal advantage in the win over QPR. Philip Zinckernagel will still be having sleepless nights as he was only a whisker away from putting Forest ahead in the quarter-final tie against Liverpool.

Given that The Reds were at rock bottom of the league in September, Cooper is fully embracing the challenge ahead.

“We’ve got to be excited about what’s coming, we’re not going to fear anything. That’s why you’re in it, you want something to play for at the end of the season and you should thrive on that.

“You’d much rather be in a position with something to play for than not at this time of the year, so if that’s the case then let’s get excited.

“We have a tricky game on Saturday. Blackpool have been really good this year and will be strong at home, but we’re fully focused on what it takes to do well at the weekend.”

 

The calvary also appears to be on the way in the forward areas.  Top goalscorer Lewis Grabban is also not too far away from first-team action, having been sidelined since the Cardiff game at the back of January, but Cooper remains cautious that he needs to be extra careful with his 34-year-old talisman.

“Lewis has been back in training in the last couple of days. We have to be careful with him because he had quite a bad ankle injury. It’s great to see him. He’s the captain and is one of the senior players. Hopefully, he features soon.”

In his absence, Xande Silva, Cafu, and Alex Mighten have all shown the appetite to contribute when called upon from the bench. Sam Surridge has already made an excellent start to life at the City Ground, finding the back of the net on three occasions since joining from Stoke.

Joe Lolley, an almost forgotten man at the club, has looked brighter in recent weeks following a frustrating time on the injury table.

With midfielder Ryan Yates in a rich run of form in front of goal (four goals in four league games) and Manchester United loanee James Garner picking up assists and posing a danger from set-pieces, Cooper will not be unduly worried about scoring the goals required to get into the top six.

Blackpool are by no means out of the play-off race themselves, with nine points separating them from sixth place. Although a tall ask with six teams already ahead of them, boss Neil Critchley will be looking for his side to finish their impressive season as strongly as possible at Bloomfield Road.

With the weight of expectation off of them, having retained second-tier status, Blackpool have very little to lose going into their nine remaining league games. Starting with Forest, they will then face other sides in the play-off hunt plus the three teams currently occupying the relegation places.

Winger Josh Bowler, a player that ‘Pool were rumoured to have turned down a bid from Forest in the last transfer window, has been exceptional for The Seasiders with three assists and seven goals so far this season. Up against Colback this weekend, it promises to be an exciting battle along the right touchline.

To add an extra bit of spice, former Derby County skipper Richard Keogh is set to return as well as midfielder Keshi Anderson, who has been another key contributor with four goals and five assists to his name this season.

Blackpool and Forest also have previous form for a lunchtime battle in front of the television cameras. The Tangerines overcame a Chris Cohen thunderbolt to defeat The Reds 2-1 in their successful play-off campaign to the Premier League in May 2010.

With a booming crowd, the end of season promotion race looks set to gain momentum come 12.30 pm this Saturday lunchtime.

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