They gave their all, but in the end it was just not enough

If we are ever to return to the Promised Land, we would be better off trying to avoid the play-offs. Four times we have tried to reach Wembley, and four times we have failed. At least this time there was no humiliation as Forest came very close to forcing the game into extra time after going 2-0 behind in the first half.

Although Forest got off to an encouraging start when David McGoldrick hit the post following a burst of pace from Nathan Tyson, Swansea were soon making life very difficult for the defence and it seemed inevitable that they would score soon. It was quite ironic that Guy Moussi, who many Forest fans were very happy to see back in the side, kept making errors, giving the ball away in dangerous positions.

Two goals in the space of five minutes really knocked the stuffing out of Forest. The first came out of the blue from Leon Britton when he tried his luck from the edge of the box with a speculative shot which Lee Camp knew nothing about. And then Stephen Dobbie made it 2-0 and even with the game still being only half-an-hour old, it did feel like it was all over for Forest, as fears of a thrashing began to fill the heads of their dejected supporters.

To Forest's enormous credit, Swansea were really made to fight for their place at Wembley in the second half, as the Reds dominated proceedings. It may have been that Swansea were just prepared to sit back and soak up the pressure, but it almost backfired on them as Forest really stepped up a few gears and made the home fans very nervous. Lewis McGugan almost made it 2-1 when his thundering free-kick crashed off the crossbar, and although Swansea did come close to furthering their lead, Forest were the better team. I had just been thinking that Billy Davies' substitutions had been a waste of time when with ten minutes plus injury time remaining, Rob Earnshaw, who had only been on the pitch two minutes handed Forest a lifeline when he scored with his first touch and set the game up for a frantic finale.

Forest pushed and pushed and pushed and came agonisingly close to getting their reward when Earnshaw's shot hit the post in the first minute of injury time. What a hero he would have been and what a villain had the former Cardiff player managed to have broken the Swansea fans' hearts. Alas, it was not to be, and any more hopes of snatching a last-gasp equaliser at the death were well and truly snuffed out when Darren Pratley – remember him? - took full advantage of an open goal when Lee Camp had come up for a corner, to strike the ball all the way from the half way line into the empty net and confirm Swansea's place in the final. It's quite symbolic that it was Pratley, who Forest were strongly linked with last summer, should be the one to seal their own fate, and in a way poetic justice for Mark Arthur whose very public insistence that Pratley wanted to join Forest might have been the reason why the deal was scuppered.

Don't count against Forest turning Monday into a Swans wake.

Many will say that Forest missed a real opportunity by not making the most of their home game against ten-man Swansea, but I don't see it like that. I don't think we'd be really any better off if we went into the second leg with a one-goal or even two-goal advantage.

That might on the face of it sound a bit absurd, but as we have learnt from experience, Forest just don't cope with expectation very well. Now they go to the Liberty Stadium on Monday knowing that they are very much the underdogs, even though the actual 'half time' scoreline is only 0-0. Swansea have only conceded 11 goals all season at home, so it will be a very tough task for Forest to win there. If they can keep it tight and hit them on the counter attack, they will have a chance, but they have got to play a lot better than they did last night, as even with ten men, Swansea at times really overran our midfield. It certainly did not help that our players were incapable of keeping the ball. The biggest culprits were Paul McKenna and Lewis McGugan. I was very disappointed to hear that Guy Moussi was injured, as I think he could have made all the difference. We just look a much better team when he is in the side, and we tend to lose far more often when McKenna is playing, especially away from home. So let's pray that Moussi will be fit for Monday, because if he is playing, then I really do think we have a good chance.

When Neil Taylor was shown a red card for a vicious lunge on McGugan just two minutes into the match, the fans were buoyant thinking that this was really a huge boost to Forest. But if anything it turned out to be a problem for us as it altered the game plan. Forest now found themselves with the unwanted tag of being favourites, and this just made them nervous and edgy as they failed to make the most of their extra man. Swansea did not seem fazed by their setback at all, and at half time they were much the better side, having forced Lee Camp into a number of important saves.

Forest did get their act together in the second half, but they were still guilty of giving the ball away far too much, and although they did test the Swansea goalkeeper Dorus De Vries a bit more, they did not have the right to feel hard done-by when the whistle blew. The Swansea fans were in very good voice at the end of the match, believing that the job was done, but don't rule out Forest just yet. They are capable of pleasant surprises, just as much as they are of giving us nasty shocks.

Let's hope the Swans will be singing a week on Monday

It's very rare that I am able to watch a Forest match in a complete state of relaxation! I will certainly not be able to say the same about the play-offs, so I made the most of it. The next two weeks are going to be extremely stressful indeed as Forest take on Swansea in the play-off semi-finals, hoping that it will be a case of fourth time lucky and they will finally make it past the first hurdle.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Forest's performance at Crystal Palace. I really thought it would be a very dull end-of-season game, but the players seemed determined to go into the play-offs on the back of a good win and reward their 3,000+ loyal fans who had made the long and awkward journey down to Selhurst Park. We really dominated the game from start to finish and made Palace look exactly what they were all season: relegation fodder. It was a good job for them that they had secured their safety last week as Forest were just far too strong for them and looked full of confidence on the back of a fantastic run of form with four wins in their last five matches and a glut of 14 goals. Forest knew that a point would definitely seal their place in the top six and even a defeat would in all likelihood not be damaging as Leeds needed to overturn a six-goal deficit on their goal difference, and as they were away at Champions QPR, who were in buoyant mood after the FA decided not to hand out a points deduction despite finding them guilty of two charges of wrongdoing, Forest had every reason to be very confident. As it happened Leeds did manage to beat Rangers, but only by a one-goal margin, and even if they had won 10-0, it wouldn't have mattered as Forest were taking care of their own business at Palace, romping comfortably to a 3-0 win thanks to a trademark long-range effort from Lewis McGugan, a Marcus Tudgay header and a fantastic 25-yard screamer from substitute David McGoldrick. Forest's cause may have been helped a bit by the straight sending-off of Dean Moxley nearly half an hour into the match for an awful tackle on Tudgay. This was the second time Moxley had seen red against Forest this season as he was also giving his marching orders in the closing stages of the win over Derby at Pride Park back in January.

The Forest fans might have been secretly hoping that Derby would do them a favour down at Reading so that Cardiff and not Swansea would be their semi-final opponents given the contrasting form of the Welsh sides, but alas Reading won. Swansea like Forest ended their season with a goal blitz and now two sides in red hot form will meet at the City Ground next Thursday night in the first leg. Hopefully Forest will continue where they left off and notch up a few goals, because to be frank it's going to be very difficult going to Swansea a week on Monday and pulling off a win there.

White-hot favourites Forest looking good for the top six

Forest are almost home and dry, but while there's a faint question mark hovering beside our play-off place, we cannot afford to get too carried away, because in football freak results do happen sometimes, and we do not want to look really silly next weekend if against all the odds Leeds do manage to overhaul that six-goal deficit.

I said last week that if Forest could mete out a thrashing against Scunthorpe, it would do them the power of good, and that's exactly what happened as they in the end cruised to a 5-1 victory which in the first half had seemed rather unlikely as Scunthorpe were making life very awkward for the Reds. It seemed rather unfair on them that Forest had a two-goal lead after 25 minutes thanks to an 8th minute strike from the in-form Kris Boyd, and another header from newly crowned Player of the Season Luke Chambers. Forest's first half performance left a lot to be desired, and they were given a wake-up call when Scunthorpe pulled a goal back from the penalty spot ten minutes from half time. But while there were a lot of doubts floating around about Forest's ability to win this match given their poor first half display, the news from elsewhere was very good as Millwall were losing at home to Swansea, meaning that if Forest could net three points only Leeds, who had beaten Burnley earlier, would be able to catch them on goal difference.

The message from Billy Davies at half time would have been quite simple: we need goals, and lots of them. He made a double substitution for the second 45 minutes, sending on both Guy Moussi and Paul Anderson, who made a welcome return to the squad following a month on the sidelines with cracked ribs. And Anderson had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes before he was celebrating scoring Forest's third goal as he scored from a tight angle to make it 3-1 and give the Reds a nice comfortable cushion. And after that it was pretty much plain sailing for the Reds as further goals from Chambers and Boyd completed the rout and ensured that the Reds start as white-hot favourites to book their place in the play-off semi finals as they complete the season at Crystal Palace. Hopefully we will get a result there for ourselves and not have to worry about the unlikely scenario of Leeds winning handsomely at Champions QPR.

You know what you have to do now, Forest. Don't let us down

Mercifully, it appears that Forest have hit form at exactly the right time of the season. Their 3-2 win at Bristol City was their third victory in four games and now they have established a two-point cushion between themselves and seventh place with just two games to go.

Forest seemed to be cruising when Kris Boyd made it 2-0 from the penalty spot, having put Forest into an early lead just four minutes into the match. But Bristol City staged a second-half comeback, making it 2-2, and Forest's hopes of finishing the day in sixth position looked to have been quashed as news filtered through that Millwall were winning their game at Scunthorpe. All the other results were going really well for Forest as Leeds, Burnley, and Hull were either losing, or drawing. So if Forest failed to capitalise on these results, it really would be a bitter blow. Thank god then for Luke Chambers, whose 73rd-minute header restored the lead and despite some very scary moments, including one deep in injury time when the ball actually ended up in the net, only to be thankfully ruled out for handball, Forest held on for a priceless three points.

Now the Reds have their fate in their own hands and are no longer relying on other teams slipping up. It would be foolish to assume that Forest are dead certs to win their home game against Scunthorpe next weekend, but with Scunny all but relegated to League One and now only playing for pride, Forest really should claim three points, and if they don't, they don't deserve to be in the play-offs. It's unlikely that they will secure a play-off spot next weekend, so it's almost certain to go to the last day at Crystal Palace. If we beat Scunthorpe by a handsome margin, we can really do our goal difference a power of good and then a draw at Palace should be enough.

A right royal end to the season could be in the offing at the Palace

Friday was indeed a very good one for Forest as they climbed back into the play-off places with a win over East Midlands rivals Leicester, and they remained there over the weekend thanks to other results going their way.

Forest had taken the lead twice, only for it to be wiped out soon after, but Paul McKenna's 84th minute goal, which came about after the Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale failed to keep hold of the ball when he had made a seemingly comfortable save, proved to be the all-important winner and give Forest a crucial three points.

The game was rather a strange one as the 3-2 scoreline might suggest that it was end-to-end, but actually the goals were the only significant moments. Marcus Tudgay's 15th-minute header was his first goal in two months, but his joy was not to last for long as within five minutes Leicester were back on level terms thanks to Matt Oakley's long-range effort following sloppy Forest defending.

Just when I was thinking how boring the second half was, it suddenly burst into life in the 73rd minute when Rob Earnshaw scored from a rebound shot after Lewis McGugan's strike was thwarted by Weale. But the supporters had not even sat back down after celebrating when Leicester equalised immediately when they were awarded a free kick, which substitute Darius Vassell got on the end of to put the ball past Lee Camp.

The long-awaited debut of Robbie Findley excited the Forest fans in the last ten minutes, and he certainly looked quite promising and almost had a dream start to his City Ground career when his pace nearly caught out Weale. But soon after Forest found themselves back in front when McKenna tried his luck with a volley, which crept through the hands of Weale, much to the delight and relief of the Forest fans, and thankfully the Reds did hold on this time and moved back into sixth position.

Leeds United's goalless draw with Reading kept Forest in the top six over the weekend as they have a superior goal difference to the other sides. They could well find themselves back outside the play-off places following Easter Monday's round of matches – Forest visit Bristol City while Leeds are at Crystal Palace, who are fighting relegation, and then there's Hull, Burnley, and Millwall, all breathing down Forest's necks, waiting for them to slip up. But whatever happens on Monday, if Forest beat Scunthorpe next Saturday at the City Ground, the quest for a play-off place will probably go right down to the last game of the season when Forest meet Palace at Selhurst Park. With Palace possibly fighting to stay up, and Forest looking to secure their play-off place, it could be a massive game.

Play-off hopes remain alive, but time is running out...

If we are going to make it into the play-offs this season, it will be thanks to other teams' poor results, rather than our own form. We could quite easily have found ourselves four points adrift by Saturday teatime, but Leeds' failure to beat Watford on their own pitch ensured that the gap is just two points and gives us a fighting chance of climbing back into the top six with four matches left.

It was always going to be a difficult game at high-flying Norwich City, so losing to them is certainly no disgrace. We did play reasonably well for most of the match, but our lack of finesse proved to be our undoing as Norwich recovered from the early setback of conceding a freak Nathan Tyson goal to earn a 2-1 win thanks to goals from former Forest striker Grant Holt, and Andrew Surman. The sending-off of Paul Konchesky in injury time for a double booking was something we could have done without as he will now miss the local derby against Leicester on Friday night.

There was not an awful lot wrong with the way we played, and there was no question that the effort was there, but as the game wore on, I became increasingly convinced that we were just not going to score another goal. Norwich were far from being at their best, but they seemed to be pretty comfortable as Forest ran out of ideas. Victory would have put us back in the top six, if only perhaps for 24 hours, while defeat could potentially be very damaging if results the following day went against us.

The fact that Leeds were held to a 2-2 draw against Watford was a big boost, but it's not just the teams above us that we have to worry about now, as Hull are now level with us on goal difference, with Millwall, Leicester and Burnley all within two or three points of us. I think we're going to have to win at least three of our remaining four games to give us a good chance of qualifying for the play-offs, and even that might not be enough. It's all a far cry from January when people were talking us up as possible Champions, and a play-off place looked little more than a formality.