Top of the tree for Christmas, but will we be there in May?

Christmas has come early! All I wanted was to be top of League One, and we are, but make the most of it while you can, as I don't think we will be there in a few days' time.

I don't think we played that well against Port Vale, but we still deserved the three points as Vale were awful, and showed just why they are in the bottom three. But they did come close on several occasions and were only let down by their terrible finishing. Our defence frightened me at times. We really missed Kelvin Wilson's composure, and I hope he is back for the Boxing Day clash with Oldham, otherwise I fear another thrashing could be on the cards.
Wes Morgan did alright, but he always looks unsure of himself when he first gets the ball. I am not sure that he and Ian Breckin are a central-defensive partnership made in heaven at all. Though, saying that, Breckin did have a very good game yesterday, and at one point made a superb last-ditch tackle to prevent what looked to be a certain goal.

The start of the second half was very reminiscent of last Saturday's game against Northampton. Forest were very slow off the starting blocks and looked very jittery. Vale were having a lot of possession, but unlike Northampton, they couldn't make the most of it, and when Lewis McGugan made it 2-0 to add to Junior Agogo's earlier first half strike, it really settled our nerves, and Forest took control of the rest of the game.

We would not be top if the Carlisle-Swansea game had gone ahead, as any result there would have seen us in second place, so it's a real bonus to find ourselves top on Christmas Day. You can't ask for much more than that, but it's so tight at the top that you can find yourselves in third or fourth place within a week.
Leeds are in third now and just one point away from the summit. They also have a better goal difference than us, and will overtake us in the next couple of games, as we have two tricky away matches at Oldham and Gillingham, and then on New Year's Day we have Huddersfield at home, and I'm not confident of beating them, either.

I think I will be happy if we can get six points out of the next nine. That would allow for one defeat, which will probably come at Oldham. You know what Forest are like on Boxing Day. They rarely ever play well away from home at the best of times, let alone when they've been stuffed full of mince pies.