Can Stoke City climb back into the play-off’s with a win over recently improving Nottingham Forest

Stoke City welcome Nottingham Forest to the Bet365 Stadium in the EFL Championship on Tuesday night.

The hosts sit two points adrift of the play off places, whilst Forest find themselves two points above the relegation zone.  The two have certainly had very different starts to the season. 

The away side come to Staffordshire having put together an unbeaten run of three games against teams around them, this including a 0-0 draw with Birmingham City on Boxing Day.  

Likewise, Stoke have been unbeaten in their last four league games, where they drew three of the games 0-0. The Potters have only had the ball in the back of the net three times in their last six games. Micheal O’Neill will be desperately looking to bring a striker in during the January transfer window, with Tyrece Cambell picking up an injury that sees him sidelined for the rest of the season. 

There defensive efforts have allowed them to stay at the top end of the table for this long, but they must have the same consistency at the other end of the field if they want this to last for the rest of the campaign.  

The return of Joe Allen is a big relief for the home side as the Welsh International has missed nine months of action with a horrible achilles injury. 

Like the hosts, the visitors have struggled in front of goal in recent matches, even with five goals in their last four games, only the teams in the relegation zone have got a poorer goal difference. 

Chris Hughton has came in and had some sort of impact on the two-time European champions. Picking up five points in their previous three games is a step in the right direction after Sabri Lamouchi left them in a terrible position at the start of this season, having not recovered from blowing a playoff spot last campaign. 

However, Forest will not gain any leverage on the teams below them if Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor are not able to start firing in the goals. The pair have registered a shocking five goals between them thus far this season. 

With games coming thick and fast, there could be room for more rotations from both sides. Joe Lolley and Anthony Knockaert have been working hard to get back in the starting eleven for Hughtons side, as Sammy Ameobi and Alex Mighten have been playing in their place recently.  

On the other hand, O’Neill may be forced to name the same side that drew 0-0 with Coventry on Boxing Day, as their injury list is still quite heavy.  

There may be few goals in this fixture with both sides misfiring. But it’s a huge game for both teams, as it is getting to the stage of the season where results need to come, to give them hope of achieving whatever expectations they have.  

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