Nottingham Forest face Sheffield Wednesday with both sides desperate for a win

Chris Hughton’s men are in dire need of three points heading into this encounter. The Reds are without a win in seven matches now with a 2-0 triumph over relegation rivals Wycombe Wanderers in early November being their last match to smile about.

Forest’s form is certainly a cause for concern, their league campaign began under the management of Sabri Lamouchi. The East Midlands outfit lost their first four league matches before the Frenchman was relieved of his duties.

Hughton became the new manager just in time for the Reds’ fifth league game of the season and the grass hasn’t exactly been greener. Seven defeats, four draws and three wins later, they sit 21st in the table, outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone.

There’s only one player with more than a solitary goal for Forest this season and that’s summer signing Lyle Taylor. The 30-year-old has scored four goals for the Reds since his arrival from Charlton Athletic in August.

Taylor’s goal conversion rate stands at 15% with his four goals coming from the 27 shots he’s registered during the campaign so far.

With the Reds’ low goal count being a major reason for their league position this season, questions are sure to be asked of Hughton’s forwards if they fail to score past a depleted, bottom of the table Sheffield Wednesday side. 

Sheffield Wednesday’s form makes for even sorrier reading. The Owls haven’t won a single one of their last eight matches. An unconvincing 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, courtesy of a Barry Bannan penalty, is their most recent win. Similarly to Forest, early November is where that fixture lies. 

It’s impossible to talk about the Owls’ league position without mentioning their points deduction. Wednesday were deducted 12 points at the start of the season due to the EFL’s independent disciplinary panel judging them to have broken spending rules.

The points deduction itself has since been slashed to six points instead of 12, handing Tony Pulis’ side a much needed boost as they attempt survival. As it stands, they are four points adrift from 21st place, making tonight’s clash with Forest, who currently occupy that league position, crucially important. 

Josh Windass has been the go-to man for Sheffield Wednesday so far this season. The 26-year-old has managed four goals from his newfound position of striker this campaign, also providing one assist. Leading the assist chart for the Owls is Adam Reach.

The winger, now heading into his fifth year with the club, has contributed three assists for his teammates so far. Reach also has one goal to his name, scoring in a 1-1 draw with Swansea just three weeks ago. 

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Hughton will be without Anthony Knockeart and Tobias Figueiredo at his disposal ahead of tonight’s relegation six-pointer. Knockeart will miss out due to picking up a second yellow card in the Reds’ latest fixture against Brentford, in the same match Figueiredo collected his fifth booking of the season, also making him ineligible to play.

With Scott Mckenna still out injured, it’s likely that Michael Dawson or Loic Mbe Soh will deputise for Figueiredo this evening. 

There is also potential for Lewis Grabban to be involved for the first time since recovering from injury, the striker has trained with the first team over the last few days, giving Hughton a choice to make over his fitness.

Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt a huge blow with Dominic Iorfa rupturing his achilles in their latest match against Barnsley. The defender is set to be on the sidelines for up to six months.

The Owls will be boosted however by the availability of Chey Dunkley who made his long-awaited debut last Saturday following his summer signing from Wigan Athletic. The 28-year-old has now recovered from a double leg break he sustained in February whilst playing for the Latics.

Julian Borner and Kieran Westwood are also nearing returns to Pulis’ squad, whether they’ll be involved in this fixture, however, remains to be seen.

Hughton is feeling confident.

“We are feeling good. We have trained well, obviously the gap in between the games is what we have got used to, but we are looking forward to it.

“We are frustrated, angry, disappointed, all of those things because we need to be picking up points. We have found in the last six games, those against the top sides, that we have fallen short of that.

“I believe that our performances haven’t warranted all of the results that we have got, but the fact is that we haven’t got those results. We need to do better and the next best opportunity to do that is tomorrow. With the run that we are on, the next game becomes even more important.”

Pulis reflects on Barnsley defeat and looks ahead to the Forest fixture.

“I thought we deserved a point from the game, particularly the way we played in the second half.

“We dominated the ball and we were really unfortunate when Joey (Pelupessy) hit the crossbar and the post, but that’s the way things are going for us right now.

“We have to roll up our sleeves, we go to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday and that’s as big a game as it gets right now.”

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