Bristol City v Nottingham Forest Preview

Posted on | November 14, 2008 | No Comments

A few weeks ago people would say this was a non-contest, with Bristol City absolutely flying and Nottingham Forest rooted to the bottom not knowing where their next point would come from. Now, the tables are turning. Forest have put together some good results recently and while they’re still in the relegation zone, things are gradually looking up. Bristol City on the other hand seem to have abandoned their play off push and now sit in a disappointing mid-table position.

We say Bristol City sit in a disappointing position yet despite relatively poor form, they’re actually only one point away from the play offs. That shows exactly how tight this division is and if City can get a couple of good results, they’ll be right back in the frame. They managed to beat Southampton 1-0 in their last outing although it was the form before that which sent them spiralling out of the top six. A thrashing by Reading and draws to Barnsley and Sheffield United meant they dropped unnecessary points and their rivals capitalized. Gary Johnson will be hoping that those few games were just a blip and they can push their way through the swarms of teams knitted together around the play offs and challenge for a finish like last seasons.

Forest may be sat 23rd in the league and only have eleven points to their name, yet recent results have been encouraging for Colin Calderwood. They’ve lost just once in their last five matches and although that has included just the one victory, it’s a great starting point considering the difficulties they had at the start of the season. Looking at Forest’s squad on paper it contains some good players with the likes of Joe Garner, Robert Earnshaw, Lee Martin and Carl Fletcher all having plenty of quality about them. It seems that now they have a few results under their belt, perhaps their confidence can grow and they can attempt to close the five point gap which keeps them adrift in the bottom three.

As for team news, Bristol City have a few problems with Jamie McAllister, Louis Carey and Steve Brooker all doubtful. With Andy Webster and Christian Ribeiro both definitely missing through knee injuries, Johnson may have to do a bit of reshuffling coming into this one. There’s not much good news for the visitors either with Colin Calderwood set to be without Joel Lynch and Robert Earnshaw. On the plus side, Carl Fletcher may be fit enough to make a return following a back injury.

Bristol City may be in a much healthier position but recently, their results haven’t been too convincing. Forest on the other hand seem to be making something of a resurgence and we can see them grabbing a point out of this one – 1-1.

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1. Nottingham Forest v Bristol City Preview
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3. Bristol City v Nottingham Forest Preview
4. Reading v Nottingham Forest Preview
5. Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest Preview

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