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.

May this be the start of another winning run...

There was a real possibility if results went against them that Forest could have found themselves seven points adrift of the play-off places last night. Thankfully, having beaten ten-man Burnley to record their first win in ten attempts, and Derby's victory over Leeds, the Reds are very much back in contention for the top six with the gap now reduced to just one point.

It took a very long time for the game to burst into life as Forest were struggling to get going. Burnley, who not so long ago were looking a good bet for a place in the play-offs, were going through a rotten spell of form themselves, yet they were playing with a great deal more confidence than Forest. They were forced to change their game plan, though, when Martin Bartley was deservedly given his marching orders for a two-footed challenge on Luke Chambers late in the half.

Although it took them a while, Forest took control of the game after the break, and an inspired substitution from Billy Davies saw David McGoldrick replace Marcus Tudgay, and within a minute he had put Forest in front when he bundled the ball home from close range following a Lewis McGugan free kick. And then deep in injury time McGoldrick made absolutely sure of the points when he netted his second of the evening.

As the scoreboard flashed up Derby's home win against Leeds, there was a huge cheer. We may hate Derby, but we love Forest more, and they really did us a big favour. Now we can go to Norwich on Friday night with a sense of purpose. Norwich have been quite superb this season, but their draw at Watford saw them drop down into third and so hopefully the nerves will get to them on Friday. It's really amazing what a win can do for confidence, and whereas I was convinced we were in for a stuffing at Carrow Road before the Burnley win, now I feel a bit more upbeat about our prospects.

It's not the despair, it's the hope we can't stand

I wasn't that devastated when Reading stole the points in injury time, seemingly after we had earned ourselves a late point. The reason being I knew in my heart of hearts that our quest for a play-off place looks set to end in disappointment, and a draw simply wouldn't have been good enough anyway. We're on such a wretched run of form at the moment that I just can't see us suddenly going on a winning run in the last six games and storm back into the play-off places.

I don't know what has happened to transform us into likely title contenders into a team playing as though it was doomed to relegation in two months. Surely not the absence of Guy Moussi? If Forest can collapse when one player disappears from the team, then quite frankly they don't deserve to call themselves a football team. Of course having an injury list as long as the Bayeax Tapestry doesn't help either, but if Nigel Doughty had bothered to back Billy Davies properly in the transfer market, we'd have the strength in depth to cope with it. Instead we're having to make do and mend, using players like Gareth McCleary, who try as they might, are just not up to the demands of Championship football. If we're playing League One standard players, we will find ourselves heading back into that division if we're not too careful next season. There needs to be a serious influx of quality players in the summer, because don't forget several of them, including Rob Earnshaw and Moussi will be out of contract. And by all accounts neither will be signing a new one, having been offered reduced terms.

I've given up on this season, and will look back on it mostly in a positive light, but when I look into the immediate future, I feel quite apprehensive. Davies has always maintained that his teams don't get going until around November and the past two seasons would certainly testify to that statement, but he didn't point out that around February everything starts going wrong. There is no point playing well for around three months if all the hard work is going to be undone again. All that false hope is very hard to deal with. I'd sooner we never had any in the first place as it just messes with our minds.

The next two games are probably pivotal

For nearly forty minutes Forest were really outplaying Leeds, but an injury to Paul Anderson and the sending-off of Chris Cohen really altered the game and in the end Forest were on the receiving end of a bit of a thrashing, which they really didn't deserve.

Forest, without a win in seven games, did not look like a team desperately short on confidence as they were passing the ball around really well and it seemed like it would only be a matter of time before they broke the deadlock. Billy Davies played a very attacking 4-3-3 team, and Leeds really found it hard to cope with us, but when Anderson was forced out of the action with an injury to the ribs, it was a blow for Forest, as he had been playing well. But an even bigger blow was to come eight minutes later when Cohen was adjudged to have lunged in at George McCartney, and to his dismay was shown a straight red card. The TV pictures showed that Cohen did not commit a sending-off offence, and Forest had been robbed of two of their key midfielders in the space of ten minutes. Not surprisingly the Reds were never the same after that, although they kept digging in and managed to keep out Leeds until half time.

But losing both Anderson and Cohen proved to be too much to cope with, and in the second half Forest capitulated, conceding four goals. Substitute Gareth McCleary, who had earlier replaced Anderson, did give us brief hope of getting back into it when he made it 2-1 with 25 minutes left, scoring a quite spectacular goal, but another couple of goals from Leeds condemned Forest to another defeat, and their day only got worse as results elsewhere saw them drop out of the play-off places.

Forest now have a couple of crucial home games coming up against Reading and Burnley, who are fighting for a play-off place. Reading's win yesterday saw them leapfrog us into sixth place, but if we beat them we will swap places with them next weekend. These two games are the most important of the season so far. If we don't get at least four points from them, we might well be facing an uphill struggle to even get a play-off place. When you consider that two months ago we were contenders for the Championship, it's a bit of a shock to say the least.

What can shake Forest out of this stupor?

I'm so glad we haven't got a relegation battle to worry about, because Forest are in terrible form right now and look like a team devoid of direction.

Even though the 3-2 scoreline might suggest otherwise, Swansea really outplayed Forest yesterday and totally deserved the three points, which keeps them in the hunt for automatic promotion, and all but rules Forest out. Seven points separate us from second-placed Norwich now, and even though with eight games remaining that deficit is not impossible to make up, such is the state that Forest find themselves in at the moment, they are not likely to snap themselves out of this malaise and notch up a significant number of wins to claim promotion. We really have to concentrate on keeping our play-off place, because it is looking increasingly likely that we won't even achieve that. We can only hope that Billy Davies is right that the international break will do us good and that we will return a team full of confidence and energy.

Maybe the long-awaited return of Guy Moussi will make all the difference in the world, but I'm not building my hopes up too much. He will need a couple of games to return to match fitness for a start, and after reading that he has rejected a contract, it's bound to be unsettling not just for him, but for his team mates. So if anybody thinks he's the midfield messiah who will magically put everything right again could well be disappointed.

We'll be lucky to reach the play-offs at this rate

I had a feeling that we might lose against Doncaster, so in that respect I suppose I should be happy that we got a point. But really, it was a must-win game for us ahead of two very awkward away trips to Swansea and Leeds, and it's difficult to see where we go from here now.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the football we were playing in the first half, as I really expected us to be quite poor, but once again our final ball was really letting us down with Rob Earnshaw and Marcus Tudgay looking out of sorts. Earnshaw limped out of the action at half time and was replaced by Nathan Tyson, but this failed to have an impact on Forest's ability to find the net.

Doncaster were not really in it in the first half, but after the break they gave Forest a few scares, but fortunately like Forest, their finishing was poor. Even though there was plenty of goalmouth action, the 0-0 scoreline basically summed up the match rather nicely.

I don't know whether it's a problem with the side's confidence and team spirit, or our missing key players, but Forest can't seem to be able to beat anyone at the moment. After all if they couldn't beat Preston on their own ground, then why should they win against anybody? Now we have only won one match in nine games, which as Radio Nottingham pointed out yesterday, is as bad as it has got under Billy Davies.

Even though Swansea themselves have suffered a bad run of form lately, I am very apprehensive about Forest playing them next week. Then a fortnight later after the international break, we visit Leeds, who are now above us in the table. We'll be lucky to get one point from either of those games, and yet if we really want automatic promotion, we need to win at least one of them.

We really missed a good chance to establish a bit of a gap between ourselves and 7th place yesterday as Burnley suffered a shock 3-0 home defeat against Millwall. But it's not just Burnley we have to worry about now, as Leicester and Hull are also closing in on us. Even though I don't think we will win the play-offs, I think it would be better for our morale to reach them and then lose them than miss out altogether. To have been knocking on the door for automatic promotion all season and then not even make the top six at the end would be a lot more psychologically damaging.

Boyd signing is pointless: he won't make a scrap of difference

How could Forest have gone from being a team full of confidence and energy vying for automatic promotion, and then suddenly looking more like relegation candidates in such a short space of time?

Forest's habit of playing badly against teams at the bottom of the table is becoming a very unfunny joke. I suppose we shouldn't really be too surprised that Sheffield United, a team that had not won in 15 matches before yesterday evening's encounter, would beat Forest. After all we have a very good track record of being on the receiving end of a team suddenly recovering from a bout of bad form. It is sickening to think of how many points we have squandered against sides at the bottom of the table recently. And yet we are still not that far away from second place. Had we made the most of the fixtures against the sides fighting the drop, we would be sitting comfortably in second place, but for one reason or another the team's confidence is completely shot, and I am just not sure how on earth we are going to get it back for the remaining ten games.

The defeat at Bramall Lane has seen us slip down into sixth place, just three points head of Burnley who happen to have two games in hand. Oh dear. Just a few weeks ago we looked to be reassured of a play-off place at the very least, but it's all fallen apart at the seams now, and if we carry on like this we won't qualify for them at all. Mind you, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing considering how well we do in them.

Until the last fifteen minutes of the match, it looked as though Forest might emerge with a morale-boosting win despite not playing all that well. Dele Adebola gave Forest the lead just before half time, and when Lee Camp saved Daniel Bogdanovic's penalty in the second half Lady Luck seemed to be favouring Forest. But it all went wrong inside six minutes when Sam Vokes equalised and with just ten minutes left, Sam Lowton headed the Blades in front and quite frankly it was all Forest deserved for a sloppy second half performance.

I am not too hopeful that our new loan signing Kris Boyd from Middlesbrough will make much of a difference. He certainly didn't last night when he came on as a substitute. I think it's pretty obvious that we need a central midfielder, not another striker. If players like Marcus Tudgay and Rob Earnshaw are struggling to score goals, then so too will Boyd. I think it's a pretty pointless signing and just proves just how out of touch the blasted Acquisitions Panel really is.

Forest don't need world beaters, just bodies

Losing a home game is always a very unpleasant feeling, but when it's happened for the first time in 18 months, it leaves you feeling a bit shell-shocked.

All I've heard since yesterday's match is: 'Well, it had to happen sometime.' Er, no it didn't, especially not against Hull City of all teams. Forest could have gone on and maintained their unbeaten record at home for the rest of the season quite easily. But they've lost their way a lot recently, and they've gone from winning six in a row to winning just one in seven. I'm beginning to think that there may be some truth in the belief that the Manager of the Month Award is a curse.

In terms of the League Table, the defeat didn't cause us much harm at all as there were poor results for the other sides with Norwich being held at home to Preston, Swansea losing at Scunthorpe, and Cardiff slipping up at home with a defeat against Ipswich. But, to be honest, even though we still remain just three points away from second place, does anyone seriously think we are going up automatically now, given the state we are in at the moment? The players look exhausted and they are picking up niggling injuries because of this. Sadly I don't think this is a bad patch that we're going through, but more likely a permanent decline as the season winds down to its inevitable conclusion: That is we will still be a Championship side next season.

It's a bit telling that this week Billy Davies said in an interview that if promotion is not delivered this season, then we'll go for it next time. It sounds like an admission that the squad is not good enough, and that Nigel Doughty has told him that he is not willing to back him. We've been fobbed off with the excuse that we can't make loan signings because all the good players are not available at such a crucial time of the season. So how come the other teams are bringing in people? Even if the players are not world beaters, having a few new faces in the dressing room does give the other players a big boost, but the short-sighted Mark Arthur believes that we shouldn't be bringing in players who are not better than what we've already got. Keep on believing that, Arthur, and things will never change.

Is this season turning into a repeat of the last?

The relief of Dele Adebola's injury-time equaliser at Middlesbrough last night must not be allowed to cloud over the fact that Forest were really poor and did not deserve a point.

Rather worryingly Forest's automatic promotion charge seems to have hit the buffers lately. Their failure to beat Scunthorpe, Preston, or Middlesbrough has seem them miss out on some crucial points, and now they are currently enduring an injury crisis, which seems to get worse as every match passes. The Forest fans are getting a sense of Déjà vu as the same thing happened last year, where Forest seemed unstoppable, and people were convinced they were going up, but when it came to the last few months of the season they just seemed to run out of battery. The lack of signings in the transfer window were to blame for last season's failed promotion bid, and our inability to bring in a left back following Nicky Shorey's departure. This time if we fail again, Nigel Doughty's reluctance to put his hand in his pocket last summer will come back to haunt him. The Forest fans will not be in forgiving mood if the Club again throws away a glorious opportunity to return to the Premiership, having repeated the mistakes of last season.

Reds can still sneak promotion if they hit form at the right time

It is a pity that so many results went against us yesterday, because drawing at Millwall is not bad at all. It's just the fact that we have lost ground on the automatic promotion places makes it seem like a big setback. But if we win our game in hand at Middlesbrough on Tuesday, we will be very much back in contention.

QPR, Cardiff, Norwich, and Swansea all won, and so we find ourselves in fifth place, just a week after occupying second spot. It goes to show just how tight the division is, and that it's impossible to predict who will go up automatically in May. It seems probable that it will be a team that hits a rich vein of form towards the end of the season. At the moment we've hit a bit of a stumbling block, with just one win in five matches, squandering points against lower-league sides in the process. The defeat at Scunthorpe and the failure to see off Preston at the City Ground could prove to be very damaging when it comes to the end of the campaign. These are the kind of games we should be winning easily, with all due respect to the opposition. That's why I'm not at all convinced that we can beat Middlesbrough, because they are fighting to stay up, and Forest seem to be incapable of dealing with pressure, an issue that has haunted them for years.

This time last week, people were wondering if Forest were capable of winning the Championship, never mind going up in second place, but the poor results lately have seen QPR storm ahead after overcoming their own barren spell. Forest will either go up in second place, or more likely given their recent form have to do it the awkward way through the play-offs. Forest have featured in these three times and never made the final, so why should it be any different this time? I could even forgive them if they got to the final but lost, just as long as I can finally realise my dream of supporting my team at Wembley.

One of those nights for Forest as second spot slips away

What an absolutely gut-wrenching end to the match last night. There we all were, all 28,000 of us, absolutely delighted that Forest had scored what we thought was the winning goal that had kept us in second place, and then with just a few seconds to spare, Preston broke our hearts when they equalised.

Although, on reflection, a draw was a fair result given that at half time we were a goal down and had not been playing well, we were not helped at all by an absolutely atrocious referee who seemed to award free kick after free kick for Preston when no Forest player had been guilty of any wrongdoing. His very poor officiating without a doubt wrecked Forest's game plan, and made for a very frustrating evening for the sell-out crowd, most of whom had taken advantage of the £10-across-the-board offer. They had every reason to feel hopeful of seeing the Reds put on a bit of a show against the division's bottom team on the back of the win against Cardiff, but it just turned out to be one of those nights to forget.

Forest deserved to walk off the pitch at half time a goal down as they had been very poor. True there were a number of key figures missing from the team, but we still should have had enough quality to be able to deal with Preston. I just wish the players had heeded warnings not to treat this game lightly. But that's exactly what they appeared to do as the midfield players especially failed to close Preston down. We really missed Guy Moussi in the middle. Paul McKenna is a good player, but he is not a ball winner like Moussi is, and we really need that kind of player in the team. Moussi's injury which will keep him out for another six weeks at least could turn out to be very significant in our quest for promotion.

I refused to entertain the thought that Forest would lose their proud unbeaten home record against the Championship's worst team so was confident that we would get an equaliser at some point, so when Paul Konchesky equalised with a volley early in the second half, normal business was resumed, and Forest were playing much better and had several good chances to go in front. But a hamstring injury to Konchesky that forced him out of the action left us looking a bit vulnerable at the back as Joel Lynch came on to replace him. We were already severely hampered by injury as it was with Rob Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson both missing.

As the referee's performance went from bad to worse, hopes of Forest snatching a win were beginning to fade, but two minutes into five minutes of injury time Forest were awarded a free kick, which Chris Cohen took and curled it into the back of the net, much to the sheer delight of the Forest fans, who thought we had bagged all three points. But sadly the wild celebrations were a tad premature as the referee managed to add an extra minute – presumably because of the goal – and during that time Preston were able to get an equaliser with what was almost the last kick of the game. Just ten seconds later, Forest would have been second, but now they were back in fourth, two points behind Swansea, who along with their fellow Welshmen, Cardiff, won their game to overtake Forest. At least Leeds and Norwich only drew their home games, but Forest really missed a great opportunity to pull away a bit from the chasing pack, and with two away trips to Millwall and Middlesbrough coming up, it's difficult to be optimistic about them winning at either if they can't even beat Preston on their own patch.

Keep on going, Forest, and promotion will be yours

It would have been a rather bitter pill to swallow if we had been robbed of three points against Cardiff because of a dubious penalty, so thank heavens for Rob Earnshaw who scored against his former side to restore Forest's lead and set us on the way to a huge win over our promotion rivals, which saw us return to second place.

The Forest players were irate when the referee awarded Cardiff a penalty against Paul McKenna little over an hour into the game, and one-time Forest transfer target Peter Whittingham sent Lee Camp completely the wrong way to net his side an equaliser, which cancelled out Wes Morgan's earlier headed goal in the first half. But justice was secured only three minutes later when a great piece of link-up play saw Paul Anderson feed the advancing Earnshaw who buried the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards out to put Forest back in front.

Forest were once again indebted to Camp who made a number of important saves throughout the course of the match, and he would certainly have impressed Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington who had attended the game to observe Camp's performance after he was cleared to play for the country earlier in the week.

There was another good result at Elland Road where two of our promotion rivals Leeds and Norwich fought out a 2-2 draw. That meant that we had indeed secured second spot, and even got closer to QPR, who were held at Preston. We are only five points away from them at the moment with a game in hand, so don't rule us out winning the title just yet! On Tuesday we have what appears to be a very winnable home game against the division's bottom team Preston, who are some 11 points adrift of safety, and therefore probably have virtually given up hope of surviving, but Forest must treat this game just like the Cardiff one, and not for one moment think it will be an easy ride. Sometimes the easiest games on paper turn out to be the hardest, as last week's shock defeat at Scunthorpe proved.

Never mind, Forest, second place can wait for another day

It was quite a shock to the system last night to feel depressed about Forest. Now that sentence in itself is actually quite positive when you think about it, because I am talking about losing being a rare thing, rather than a common occurrence.

Unlike a few people, I never thought the Scunthorpe game would be a walk in the park, despite the fact that they hadn't won a home game since August and were looking down and out and League One bound. Forest didn't exactly have a glowing record against them at Glanford Park, where they had never won, so I was by no means expecting a victory this time. When it comes to the big pressure games, Forest always seem to come unstuck. They could have gone second had they won, but despite their best efforts just could not find a way past the goalkeeper. They had been dominating until Scunthorpe grabbed a goal completely against the run of play twenty minutes into the match when the ball unfortunately went in off Chris Gunter. It was a setback, but the fans had every reason to be confident that the Reds could come back from it.

Alas, it was not to be our night and Scunthorpe claimed a vital three points, and we missed the chance to go second, and in the process used up one of our games in hand. We are still in a great position, though, and with two home games coming up against Cardiff and Preston, this time next week we may well be back in the automatic promotion places.

Luke who's getting all the praise now

I would have been very satisfied to take home a point from QPR if we had all eleven men on the pitch, never mind ten. I really feared the worst when we had Radoslaw Majewski shown a red card for a two-footed tackle, but we showed great determination to recover from that setback and hold on for a well-earned draw.

Sky might have wished they could have billed this game as a battle between the top two, but results conspiring against us on Saturday meant that we had slipped down to fifth ahead of play, although victory at Loftus Road would have seen us close the gap on Rangers to just three points with two games in hand. With just one defeat at home all season, I didn't really rate our chances too much, although having won our last six games nobody had any right to call us underdogs.

Forest certainly began very brightly forcing a number of corners in quick succession, but QPR took the lead after a quarter of an hour had passed when the Forest defence were caught out when Tommy Smith made a good solo run before firing a 25-yard shot past Lee Camp.

The Reds were really up against it five minutes later when Majewski foolishly lunged in at Adel Taarabt and was promptly dismissed by referee Mark Clattenburg. Being notorious for dubious decisions, fans were not best pleased to hear he was officiating, but in this instance he had no choice but to send Majewski off.

I was feeling despondent then thinking the game was over, but Forest responded in the best possible fashion by equalising just three minutes later when David McGoldrick, who won the nod ahead of Rob Earnshaw to partner Marcus Tudgay, saw the ball fly off his leg into the net as a result of a Lewis McGugan free kick. The manner in which the equaliser came about may have been rather lucky, but nobody could argue that we didn't deserve a point as we really defended magnificently to really frustrate QPR and stop them playing.

Luke Chambers' recent solid performances at the heart of our rearguard have won him a lot of praise from Forest fans, but now he is being recognised by the wider football world, winning the Sky Man of the Match award for making a series of crucial blocks. We turned down a bid for him from Birmingham City on transfer deadline day, which says a lot for just how far he has come since he was given the chance to play in his much-preferred central defensive position. If he keeps this kind of performance up for the next three months, he will be a very strong candidate for Player of the Year, especially for his goals contribution at the other end of the pitch. When he was asked to play at right back, he got a lot of stick, but it was not his fault he was played out of position. He could have moaned about it, but he just got on with it without any fuss, and now he is in the best form of his whole career, and the fans are finally beginning to recognise he is a very good player who under the right management will do a great job. Bringing Chambers to the Club was one of the very few good things Colin Calderwood did for us.

Forest just keep on winning, and winning, and winning...

I'm dreading the time when Forest eventually lose a home game. When it happens often, as it did a few years ago, I just became inured to it and a quick shrug of the shoulders would suffice, but having not experienced that feeling, unbelievably, for nearly 18 months (let's not mention the play-offs), it's going to feel very painful when they do lose.

I'm not sure if the fact that we are 34 matches unbeaten makes us more likely to lose the next one, or less. After all the record cannot go on indefinitely, can it? We've had a few scares lately, coming back from two goals down against Barnsley, and coming from behind to beat Portsmouth in the final minute. And Watford were a very difficult team to play against, our defence having to work very hard, but we came through that unscathed and won the three points thanks to Marcus Tudgay who scored in the very first minute.

There may have only been one goal in it, but it was a highly entertaining match and you couldn't take your eyes off it for one second. Forest played some great passing football at times that had the crowd purring with pleasure. It makes me feel like a proud parent when I hear pundits in the media say really good things about us. Even Robbie Savage has been very kind, calling us a fantastic football club. He might be saying it for effect to make himself look good, but I have to admit when he does say things like that, I hate him just a little bit less.

We now find ourselves in a very enviable position of being in second place with two games in hand. We are also top of the form league, having earned six victories in a row. Things are looking very good at the moment, but there are some difficult games coming up in the next few weeks, not least starting with a trip to the leaders QPR next Sunday. If we were to win there, we would be able to catch them if we won both our games in hand, but a draw would be an excellent result, too. Last year we went to West Brom, who were top at the time, and not many people gave us a chance of winning there, but we walked away with a well-deserved 3-1 victory, so anything is possible. If anybody should be frightened, it's QPR, not us.

Forest need the challenge of the Premiership to keep their stars happy

Two things cost us automatic promotion last year – the lack of a decent left back and a crippling inability to win away from home. Both of those issues have been addressed this season with the signing of Paul Konchesky on loan from Liverpool and a huge turnaround in our fortunes on our travels which continued with a hard fought win at Coventry last night.

Forest are showing every sign of looking like automatic promotion challengers. They are defending well, they are good at recovering from setbacks, such as at Coventry last night, and they are not relying on just one or two players for goals. Although we are at presently fourth, the bookmakers have made us second favourites to go up alongside QPR. It might irk Norwich, Cardiff, and Swansea who are all playing well, but they obviously know a good team when they see one! I really have a strong feeling that we will be in the Premiership next season, something which I am a bit ambivalent about.

Some days I think it would be hugely exciting to see Forest back in the top flight mixing it with Man United, Chelsea, et al, but another part of me feels very uncomfortable about trying to compete with the richest clubs who are prepared to pay out obscene amounts to keep their best players. I really hope we don't go down that route and get into financial difficulty because we've overspent ourselves. Forest spent a decade trying to recover from their last escapade in the Premiership, which let's face it was an unmitigated disaster on all levels. I hope by going up, we are not in the long run taking two steps back.

Perhaps I am jumping the gun a little, though, because there's still three months to go of the season, and there's a lot of points still to be won. At least I can stop worrying about relegation! That is something which is too horrible to contemplate, and once I know we've avoided that I can relax, because I am very happy being a Championship club and am in no rush to leave it, so should we fail to go up again, I'm not going to be devastated, although I'm sure the players will think otherwise. Some of them might want to leave for a fresh challenge, and I know a few are out of contract in the summer. Everyone will be clamouring to stay if we get promoted, even if some will be surplus to requirements. But the likes of Chris Cohen, Rob Earnshaw, and maybe even Lee Camp will feel that the grass is greener elsewhere if we cannot offer them top flight football, and there will definitely be a lot of interest in them. There comes a point after a few years of coming close to success that if a team doesn't start turning promise into prizes, players will get restless and start to question their futures. If we don't go up this season, I fear that the squad will be broken up and we will start to slip away into obscurity again. So maybe, yes, I have to concede, much as I love the Championship, we need to be in the Premiership next season.

No shame in Cup exit as Forest impress in East London

It seems that when West Ham and Forest meet at Upton Park, you can always guarantee a high-scoring match. The previous two encounters in 2003 and 2004 were 3-2 defeats, as well.

Forest can be very proud of their performance which saw them come from behind to take the lead at one point in the first half. They absolutely dominated the first 45 minutes, recovering quickly from an early setback when Victor Obinna tapped the ball in from a corner in only the 4th minute. But Dele Adebola, who was handed a rare start alongside David McGoldrick, scored for the first time this season when he equalised nearly a quarter of an hour later. From then on Forest applied most of the pressure, and they took a deserved lead five minutes before half time through McGoldrick who bundled the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble. But no sooner had Forest stopped celebrating when West Ham equalised out of nothing thanks to that man Obinna again, who caught Lee Camp completely unawares when he unleashed a ferocious 25-yard shot straight into the back of the net. Forest were scratching their heads at half time, wondering how on earth the Hammers had managed to score two goals, despite being completely outplayed.

If Forest had kept up their momentum in the second half, they could easily have gone on to cause a minor upset, but they seemed to have run out of gas as the Hammers dominated after the break and went in front early on thanks to a penalty from Obinna, which Joel Lynch had given away after felling Winston Reid. After that, Forest were very much second best, but they went home with their heads held high, knowing that they had put in a brave effort. It would be nice to win the FA Cup one day, but for now it is hardly a priority, and we do not really need more fixtures clogging up an already saturated schedule.

The ball is now in your court, Mr Doughty

After all the excitement of Saturday's epic win at Pride Park, it was always going to be rather hard for the players to motivate themselves for the match against Bristol City, but while it was a scrappy game with not too much good football being played, the players got on with the job professionally and walked away with another win thanks to an early second half goal from Luke Chambers.

The chances of Bristol City causing an upset and ending Forest's long unbeaten home record looked next to nil with just one win in their last eight matches, but they did look threatening on the counter attack and there were a few hairy moments in the first half as Forest struggled to get to grips with the match. City had come with a game plan to frustrate Forest and stop them from playing football, and it certainly worked in the first half, as the Reds struggled to string passes together. But City were forced to change their tactics after the break as Forest took an early lead when Chambers pounced to head in from a Chris Cohen free kick, just three minutes into the half. But the fact that they were now chasing the game did not mean that City were exposed at the back. They looked very capable of snatching an equaliser, but fortunately Forest defended well to snuff out the threat and hold on for an important win.

We are now in a great position to challenge for automatic promotion in 5th place, just a point away from second place, still with a game in hand. In many ways we are looking stronger than we did this time last year as we are winning away from home as well. One or two inspired signings may well help us go one better than last season and finally return to the land of milk and honey. Nigel Doughty has said in the past that he will not rest until we are back in the Premiership, so now it's time to put up or shut up. He will not be forgiven if he blows it again.

Tell me mam to put the champagne on ice. We've beaten Derby twice!

What a sweet, delicious feeling it was walking away from Pride Park yesterday afternoon, having completed the double over our hated rivals for the first time in twenty years. Life just doesn't get much better than this – not in my opinion anyway.

I've been to Pride Park twice before, and on both occasions endured a miserable time, so it was a great joy to finally at the third attempt see Forest win, and I will make sure I savour it, because I really did fear that a defeat would tarnish the memory of thrashing them at our place just three weeks ago.

But really I shouldn't have anything to be scared about because all the pressure was on Nigel Clough and Derby, as they were enduring a wretched run of form with seven defeats in their last nine games, whereas in virtually a complete reversal, Forest had won six of their last seven and looking like strong challengers for the play-offs, if not automatic promotion. The form guides pointed to a Forest win, but still haunted from my last experience almost a year ago at Pride Park, I would have been more than happy with a point, so to take all three was absolutely fantastic.

There are so many memories to take away from it from the jeering of 'non-League Nigel' to the wild cheering when Robbie Savage was substituted early in the second half, which as I later saw on the highlights on the BBC was followed by one mighty strop in the dugout. You couldn't put a price on that! And Fat Boy Commons got a similar reception when he too was pulled out of the action, towards the end. Forest were by then leading 1-0, thanks to Robbie Earnshaw, who had earlier come on as a replacement for Marcus Tudgay. The 4,000-strong away following was sent into raptures in the 78th minute when some good counter-attack football resulted in Earnshaw striking the ball past Stephen Bywater from the edge of the D to net his third goal against the Rams this season, a hat-trick of sorts some might say.

Although for most of the game Forest had looked comfortable, Derby had gone close before Earnshaw's goal, when their new signing from Notts County Ben Davies produced a diving save out of Lee Camp. And Camp was again a hero when he stopped Chris Porter's powerful header from giving Derby a late equaliser.

When the referee somehow managed to find five minutes of injury time, it gave the Rams real hope, but when they had Dean Moxley shown the red card for a second bookable offence in the closing stages, it knocked what stuffing they had left out of them, and Forest clung on to claim their first ever victory at Pride Park, much to the sheer delight of everyone of a red and white persuasion. 'You're getting sacked in the morning', the Forest fans chanted towards Clough, who twenty years ago was a Trent End darling, but thanks to his petulant behaviour in recent encounters between the two sides is now quite a hate figure. To think I was really upset when he got the job at Derby two years ago, thinking he and Stuart Pearce had always been destined to be a formidable managerial duo at the City Ground. Non-League Nigel is showing that he is well and truly out of his depth in the Championship, and I for one am loving watching him squirm!

Smash-and-grab Reds break Pompey's hearts

How on earth did we win yesterday's match against Portsmouth? We were playing really poorly and I was convinced that our long unbeaten home record was finally about to come to an end, and consequently it would be the first match that I had attended in almost a year, believe it or not, which I had seen Forest lose (well, apart from the play-offs – but, er, they don't count).

I wasn't feeling particularly well, having suffered from a nasty cough for the past week or so, and so having to experience that horrible sick feeling you get when your team loses, would have left me really down in the dumps, especially with there being nothing good on the telly to cheer me up when I got home. So thank god that we got the equaliser, deservedly or not, three minutes from time. The fact that it was an own goal summed up Forest's poor performance, but I was more than happy to accept it and just have the match finished there and then. A point in the circumstances was very welcome, even if we had been strong favourites to win the game with Portsmouth lying low in the bottom half of the table. But we Forest fans have got used to being incredibly spoilt lately, and right in the last minute of four minutes of injury time, Lewis McGugan, who had earlier come on as a substitute, crossed the ball in and new permanent signing Marcus Tudgay tucked the ball into the net to leave Portsmouth well and truly gutted. It's not as if Forest had been putting a lot of pressure on them, so to lose two goals in the last three minutes was quite shocking from their point of view.

The Reds had found themselves behind after 26 minutes when Chris Gunter slipped over in midfield, and lost the ball to David Nugent, who after a good run fed Kanu, who then beat Lee Camp before firing the ball home despite Forest's best efforts to scramble the ball clear. Neither side had been playing particularly well, although they did have the excuse of the strong wind making playing conditions quite difficult. Portsmouth, though, looked comfortable once they had their lead and seemed quite content to sit back as they didn't really feel Forest were much of a threat. But they took their eye off the ball in the last few minutes as Forest, acutely aware that their proud home record was about to be broken, finally upped their game and Ibrahima Sonko's own goal which came as a result of a McGugan cross got Forest an equaliser out of seemingly nothing, and then deep in injury time up popped Tudgay to net his fourth goal since joining the Club. It's a pity that some fans had left the game and missed both Forest's goals. I can never understand why people do that. It's like going to the cinema and walking out of a good film ten minutes from the end. Granted, this match was no thriller, but the exciting ending somehow made the boring bits worth it.

Have Forest got their away act together at last?

2011 has started very well for Forest on their travels. The last-gasp win over Preston in the FA Cup was their second away victory in less than a week following last Monday's win at Ipswich.

Having started last year in spectacular fashion, winning 3-1 at leaders West Brom, one would have been forgiven for thinking that there was no stopping us and we would canter to promotion. But that turned out to be our last win away of the season, and we had to wait until September before we would record another one in the League...against yesterday's opponents, funnily enough.

Preston were out to impress their new manager Phil Brown, and for 50 minutes they held the lead given to them by a long-range Darren Carter effort. But Paul Anderson, who is often criticised for his lack of final ball, showed no lack of compsure this time as he made the use of his pace, racing clear before firing home the equaliser for Forest five minutes into the second half. Just as the prospect of a replay back at the City Ground loomed on the horizon, and yet another fixture to cram into a busy schedule, that man with the midas touch popped up again at the crucial moment. Super Luke Chambers struck home from a corner just a couple of minutes from time to send Forest through into round four and set up a clash with relegation-threatened Premiership side West Ham in East London. Forest will certainly fancy their chances of causing a minor upset there.

Doughty must not waste this window of opportunity

It gives me a really warm glow of satisfaction to do the double over Roy Keane's team! Forest's slender 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Ipswich completed a very satisfactory Christmas programme which yielded seven points out of nine and sets us up very nicely to mount a promotion challenge in the second half of the campaign.

Damien Delaney's own goal just before half time proved to be enough as Ipswich were thwarted by a combination of bad finishing and good goalkeeping by Lee Camp. Forest ended the match with one man extra as Ipswich had Grant Leadbitter sent off for a harsh tackle on Paul Anderson in the dying moments of the match.

The win puts Forest in seventh place with a couple of games in hand on many teams above them. They are now just six points away from second-placed Norwich City, and now that they seem to have sorted out their away form which robbed them of automatic promotion last term, the chances of playing in the Premiership next season look very strong provided this good run of form we are on does not turn out to be just a purple patch.

Hopefully we will be seeing two or three additions to the squad in the January transfer window, particularly as we have now lost the services of Aaron Ramsey who has returned to Arsenal after being recalled, and left back Ryan Bertrand is out injured for a few weeks. Forest's failure to make signings in the summer must surely put the pressure on Nigel Doughty to put the hands in his pockets this month, otherwise Billy Davies will not be a happy man and with plenty of job vacancies opening up following a spate of managerial sackings, Davies might just be tempted to go elsewhere.

Hungover Reds rescue a point to preserve home record

In a perverse kind of way I was glad that Barnsley took the lead first, because if I'm being honest, after all the excitement of Wednesday night, I was finding it hard to muster up much enthusiasm for this game.

I suspect that the players felt the same. Thrashing Derby 5-2 was still very fresh in their minds, and what with it being New Year's Day, I did think an unexpected result was very much a likely outcome. I remember listening to Nathan Tyson saying on the radio that their unbeaten home record was very vulnerable as the players had to get their heads out of the clouds following the wonderful win over the Rams. Motivating themselves for a home clash with a boring team like Barnsley would be a difficult task, and I can't say I blame them for not being up for it. That's why – please forgive me – I am glad that we were losing, because in the end it turned into a very exciting match and we all left the City Ground really happy that we had rescued a point when we had been playing so badly. Barnsley had every right to feel robbed, but if they were told they would earn a draw against a side that had scored eight goals in their previous two home encounters, they would have thought it was Christmas all over again.

The fact that a player who hadn't scored for nearly seven years was the one to break the deadlock really summed up Forest's first half performance rather nicely. Marcus Tudgay, who just three days earlier won the hearts of the Forest fans with his two goals against the Rams, committed the sin of giving the ball away in midfield, and left back Matt Hill picked it up and struck past Lee Camp from 12 yards out to give Barnsley a shock lead. And by half time they thoroughly deserved to be winning as Forest appeared to be suffering from a New Year's Day hangover.

Hopes that the Reds could come out in the second half were quickly quashed as Barnsley nabbed a second goal five minutes into the half thanks to former Forest player Andy Gray's header. That was the cue for a double substitution as Tyson and Aaron Ramsey entered the action, but their impact was not immediately obvious as Forest continued to play very poorly. But that was until the 68th minute when Chris Gunter made a good run into the penalty area and was brought down. Louis McGugan duly stepped up to take the resultant spot-kick, and this raised hopes that this might inject a bit of life into the Reds' display.

Sure enough, buoyed on by an enthusiastic crowd, Forest got their act together and an equaliser which for so long had looked virtually impossible, suddenly seemed almost inevitable. The introduction of Dele Adebola helped as Forest poured forward. Ten minutes from time, they got the goal they had been craving when Tyson pounced on a loose ball to fire home the leveller, much to the relief of the Forest fans who were half-resigned to defeat earlier.

God knows what a home defeat against Barnsley on the first day of the new year would have done to morale. It might have been written off as one of those things, but on the other hand, it could easily have sapped at our confidence. The longer our record goes on, the more likely it will be broken with every passing match, but it would have been a terrible shame to lose so close to the win over Derby. We haven't had long enough to bask in the glory of beating them, and a defeat would have left a bitter aftertaste in our mouths.