Nottingham Forest vs Bristol City preview: Robins hope to keep play-off hopes alive at the City Ground

Bristol City will look to put their play-off push back on track when they travel to fourth placed Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

Since the restart of the Championship season, the Robins have suffered two consecutive defeats which have come away to Blackburn Rovers and against Sheffield Wednesday at Ashton Gate on Sunday.

After these two disappointing results, Lee Johnson's side have moved from seventh to 12th, five points adrift of the play-off places with seven games left to play.

His team are experiencing a poor run of form, having failed to pick up a win in their last seven games, with their last victory coming on the 12th February when goals by Nakhi Wells, Filip Benkovic and Famara Diedhiou earned a 3-2 win at home to Derby County.

Therefore, a defeat at the City Ground on Wednesday, depending on results elsewhere, could put an end to to City's play-off ambitions for this campaign.

In comparison, Sabri Lamouchi's first season as Forest boss as of yet has been a huge success, as his side have a very good chance of earning a play- off spot for the first time since 2011.

Furthermore, it is possible that the Reds could sneak into the automatic spots as they currently sit in fourth, seven points behind second placed West Bromwich Albion and the same amount of points ahead of seventh placed Preston North End.

Also, in their two games since the restart, Forest have earned four points out of a possible six, they had to settle for a draw after conceding a late goal away to Sheffield Wednesday.

However, on Sunday a brace by the league's third top goalscorer Lewis Grabban and an 85th minute header by Ryan Yates, sealed a 3-1 win for Lamouchi's team against relegation threatened Huddersfield Town.

Team news

The good news for both sides is that neither have any new injury problems to be concerned, about, but after Yates netted for Forest on Sunday after coming on as a second half substitute, there is a chance that may make the starting 11 for Wednesday's encounter.

On the other hand, after Johnson said following the Wednesday defeat, certain players failed to do their jobs, it would come to no surprise if he made a couple of changes for the fixture at City Ground.

This means that midfielder Niclas Elliasson and striker Diedhiou could be in contention to be recalled to the Robins starting line-up.

Previous Clashes

In the reverse fixture that took place on the 23rd November, the game ended goalless but Forest had to play the final 34 minutes with ten men after Yates received his marching orders after performing a reckless challenge on Adam Nagy.

Although, the last time both teams faced off at the City Ground in January 2019, Bristol City returned home with all three points after a Diedhiou tap in with just under 20 minutes to go sealed a 1-0 victory for his team.

In fact, despite being in bad form it may provide Robins fans with confidence that their side are unbeaten against Forest in the last five outings with them winning twice and drawing on three occasions.

The last time Forest actually beat Bristol City was back in January 2017, when a superb Ben Osborn hit from a free kick was enough to earn the Reds a 1-0 win at the City Ground.

In addition, City have only lost twice against Forest in the last eleven games against each other, meaning that even though they come into this game in poor form and consequently potential low morale, they know that their recent good form in this fixture could help them to continue their push for a play-off spot come the end of the season.