Top of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers will be hoping they can return to winning ways on Saturday as they play host to Nottingham Forest.

Wolves come into the game on the back of a 2-1 midweek Emirates FA Cup replay defeat to Swansea City. Last weekend they drew 0-0 with Barnsley at Oakwell, a result which saw their lead at the top of the league cut to 10 points.

Nottingham Forest will be under the management of Aitor Karanka for the second time this Saturday. The first game under his reign saw them fall to a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, a result that extended their winless run in the league to six games.

Their seasons so far

Wolves' season has gone much better than anyone could have expected so far. They sit top of the Championship, ten points clear of second place Derby County.

They are now winless in their last three games, although two of those were in the FA Cup and two have been draws, this is being considered as a slump in of sorts, in comparison to how well they have started the season.

Nottingham Forest's season has been disappointing thus far and they sit 15th in the table. Mark Warburton was sacked just nine months into a two and a half year deal and just one transfer window in charge. 

Gary Brazil took charge of the club for just one game, a memorable 4-2 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup, before Aitor Karanka was appointed. Karanka successfully got Middlesbrough to the Premier League and people linked with Forest will be hoping he can repeat that achievement at the City Ground. 

Embed from Getty Images

Head to head

The two sides met earlier on in the season, Wolves ran out 2-1 winners at the City Ground back September. 

Diogo Jota gave Wolves the lead just after half-time. Mustapha Carayol pulled the hosts level before Jota grabbed his second of the game late on to give the visitors all three points. 

Forest's last victory over Wolves came back in the form of a 3-0 win in November 2014.

The West Midlands side hold the bragging rights overall, having won this fixture 60 times. Forest have emerged victorious 43 times, there has been 26 draws. 

Team news

The hosts are without Ruben Vinagre as he is still suspended following his red card against Swansea. Other than that, Nuno Espírito Santo has a full squad to select from. Jordan Graham is available after being recalled from his loan spell at Fulham.

As for Forest, striker Daryl Murphy has missed the last three games with a knock and will again be fitness tested to see if he's able to feature. Joe Worrall missed last week's game against Aston Villa through suspension, but is once again available for contention.