I felt terrible during the match against Coventry. The tension was so bad that by the end when Coventry kept pinging the ball into our area, I was screaming blue murder. I could hardly stand up straight when it was time to leave. I'm just amazed that this morning I didn't wake up with a headache. I wouldn't have minded seeing as Forest won, and that's all that this weekend was about - getting those all-important three points. And we did...just. The first half display was very nervy and uninspiring, which given the circumstances, I suppose was understandable. Any thoughts that the Coventry players were already thinking of their summer holidays were forgotten as they were much the better side and were very unfortunate to not be in the lead at half time. Our defence looked very shaky, and only poor finishing saved us.
But the second half was a completely different story. We got off to the best possible start when James Perch drove in a low shot, just thirty seconds after the restart. From then on Forest poured forward, looking like a side high on confidence, and not one with the fear of relegation hanging over their heads. I think what changed the game was Paul Anderson going off injured at half time. He had not been himself at all in the first half, so I wasn't all that disappointed to lose him, and I was confident that his replacement Gareth McCleary would pose a few problems for Coventry, which he did with some excellent runs. He really breathed new life into our forward line, which had been very ineffective before the break.
Coventry weren't much of a threat at all until the final few minutes when Forest lost Lewis McGugan to injury and with Ian Breckin coming on to replace him, Forest reshuffled at the back with Luke Chambers switching back to right back from central defence, where he was given a rare opportunity to show off his talent. And to be fair to him he looked a much better player there, which will give Billy Davies food for thought when he reassesses his squad in the summer.
Fortunately Forest held on for a massive three points. It was an almost perfect weekend for us with Norwich losing their East Anglia derby at Ipswich and Southampton lost at Sheffield Wednesday, which means that we are now three points clear with just two games to go. Barnsley drew at Reading, which leaves them two points behind us, but they can go above us on Tuesday if they win at Coventry. Wouldn't it be fantastic if next Saturday we still have both Barnsley and Norwich below us going into the Blackpool match? If we win next week, Norwich would have to beat Reading on the Monday night to stop us from staying up!
Part of me wants to celebrate our survival with thousands of other fans all going crazy on the City Ground pitch just like we did last season when we got promotion, but I'm not sure my nerves can take much more, so it would be nice if it could all be sorted out before then. But then again this is Forest we're talking about. I still think it will go to the last day with defeat against Southampton making it possible for us to go down. But I am a born worrier, so don't take any notice of me. It will probably be ok...probably.
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