Nottingham Forest face a nervy last-day next week after they lost 2-0 to Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon in The Championship

This win sealed survival for Rangers and will have taken some pressure off manager Ian Holloway. However, Forest now find themselves just one goal out of the relegation zone following wins for both Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City.

Lack of quality in front of goal

Forest manager Mark Warburton decided to name an unchanged line-up after the impressive 3-2 win against Reading at The City Ground last time out. However, an injury to Danny Fox during the warm-up led to Daniel Pinillos coming into the line-up. 

QPR made a strong start to proceedings as they still had work to do to secure safety in The Championship themselves. They would have found themselves in front early on if it was not for a superb double save by Jordan Smith in the Forest goal. 

Mustapha Carayol caused Reading full-back Chris Gunter all sorts of problems last week and he was at it again in this one. He was able to put a couple of teasing crosses into the area which came to nothing and also saw his shot well kept out by Alex Smithies

Carayol was lively again for Forest in the first-half. (picture: Getty Images / Harry Hubbard)
Carayol was lively again for Forest in the first-half. (picture: Getty Images / Harry Hubbard)

Their appeared to be a lack of quality in front of goal at both ends of the pitch in the first-half. Matt Smith was causing Forest problems with his presence in the air and missed a couple of chances to give Rangers the lead as the sides found themselves going into half-time goalless. 

Forest punished again away from home

Forest found themselves let off the hook early on in the second-half. Smith was again causing the Forest defence all sorts of problems and should have given Rangers the lead but could only head wide. 

However, the home side managed to get themselves in front just minutes later in the 49th minute as Conor Washington made his way into the box unchallenged before flicking the ball beyond Smith to make it 1-0. 

It took Rangers just ten minutes to double their advantage in what was turning into a disastrous day for Forest. Former Forest player Joel Lynch made it 2-0 as his header found the back of the net. 

Warburton decided to make a triple substitution as Forest desperately tried to find a way back into the game. Ben Brereton, Pinillos and Carayol were replaced by Jamie Ward, Matty Cash and Matt Mills.

These substitutions did make an impact and Ward forced Smithies into a superb save to prevent the away side from halving the deficit. Cash then had a great chance after some lovely play but again showed a lack of composure as he lashed his shot wide. 

There was still time for Smithies to make another outstanding save as Cash saw his shot pushed away as Forest fell to yet another damaging defeat on the road which means they face a nervy last-day against Ipswich Town next week. 

Nervy last-day for Forest next weekend

After what has been a horrific season for all involved with Forest, they now face a momentous game next weekend against Ipswich to try and hold on to their Championship status. A win against Mick McCarthy's men would all but secure safety unless something dramatic happened at Griffin Park

QPR fans taunt Forest's away support at full-time. (picture: Getty Images / Harry Hubbard)
QPR fans taunt Forest's away support at full-time. (picture: Getty Images / Harry Hubbard)

The other teams involved in the relegation scrap, Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City, both have to travel away from home on the final day. Blackburn travel to the capital to face Brentford whilst Birmingham travel to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City

It is set to be a very nervy day at The City Ground but the fact it is still essentially in Forest's hands unless Blackburn were to win by a three goal margin, allows Forest fans to have some hope that they can still avoid the drop to League One

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About the author
Sam Straw
VAVEL Championship Editor. Journalism Student at The University of Sheffield. Nottingham Forest Season-Ticket Holder. Contributing to VAVEL UK since October 2016.